variants
also racheted (down)
as in decreased
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually
news stories about the kidnapping will ratchet down as the weeks go by
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for ratcheted (down)
Verb
-
Palestinian voter turnout has gradually decreased over the past elections.—
SAM METZ,
Arkansas Online,
26 Apr. 2026 -
The issue has broad effects, affecting not just the victim but families, co-workers and community while harming mental and physical health, causing decreased productivity and decreasing one’s quality of life.—
Marc Ramirez,
USA Today,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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However, Apple hasn’t followed its megacap peers in sinking tens of billions of dollars into building out AI infrastructure, which has diminished the stock’s correlation to the rest of the tech industry.—
Bloomberg,
Mercury News,
30 Apr. 2026
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Still, the music flourished on terrestrial radio and music-video television, two venues for mass musical experiences whose power has diminished drastically in the streaming era.—
Jack Hamilton,
The Atlantic,
28 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Has your motivation for a tenth ring ebbed at all?—
Charles Bethea,
New Yorker,
26 Apr. 2026
-
Cuba has been under the longest-running sanctions regime America has imposed on any country, but the severity has ebbed and flowed.—
Gisela Salim-Peyer,
The Atlantic,
23 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Ben Clemens at FanGraphs measured the change, relative to the 2025 regular season, and found that the zone has shrunk at the top of the zone and on the edges of the plate.—
Ian Miller OutKick,
FOXNews.com,
29 Apr. 2026
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Can’t one or two of the others on that page be shrunk a little to accommodate it?—
Ticked Off,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 Apr. 2026
Verb
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In the piece, the Vicar of Christ is felled not by his oppressors but rather by a random cosmic event.—
Brian Boucher,
ARTnews.com,
16 Apr. 2026
-
Jeff Shell, now felled from his presidency of Paramount, is living proof.—
Gary Baum,
HollywoodReporter,
8 Apr. 2026
Verb
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Westerheide declined to answer follow-up questions about the Patton autopsy.—
Kelly Davis,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
26 Apr. 2026
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That tax collector, Cheryl Blogoslawski, was suspended from her job in January, not long after a new mayor, Democrat Bobby Sanchez, took office after Stewart declined to seek a seventh two-year term.—
Kevin Rennie,
Hartford Courant,
25 Apr. 2026
Verb
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The 2025 event in Virginia helped bolster the coin's value for a time, but interest in the currency again tapered off.—
Lucien Bruggeman,
ABC News,
21 Apr. 2026
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What initially felt like a meteoric rise tapered off into a slow burn.—
Vince Aletti,
New Yorker,
17 Apr. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Ratcheted (down).” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/ratcheted%20%28down%29. Accessed 2 May. 2026.
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