downgrade
verb/ˌdaʊnˈɡɹeɪd/
Etymology From down- + grade.
1
To place lower in position.
- The stock was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’.
- Basingstoke-Exeter will test this. From Salisbury westwards, it's largely single-track since British Rail downgraded it in 1967. There's a ten-mile loop between Templecombe and Yeovil, as well as shorter loops at Chard, Axminster and Honiton.2025 February 5, Philip Haigh, “Where track and train integration will be put to the test”, in RAIL, number 1028, page 51:
2
To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down.
- More significantly, rigid deference to [Justin] Bieber’s still-young core fan base keeps things resolutely PG, with any acknowledgement of sex either couched in vague “touch your body” workarounds or downgraded to desirous hand-holding and eye-gazing.2012 June 26, Genevieve Koski, “Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe”, in The A.V. Club, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2020:
3
To disparage.
- We cannot afford to downgrade the lifestyles of other lesbians; we cannot afford to portray lesbians thinly as drunken and bothersome separatists who push their views on "work-within-the-movement" dykes".1978 April 29, Cindy Rizzo, “Unity of Divergence”, in Gay Community News, page 4:
- Without downgrading my friends in the Building Trades, driving a nail or sawing a board is relatively simple.1981, King Royer, Construction Manager in the 80's, page 278:
4
Climatology, Meteorology, Natural sciences to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
5
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To revert software back to an older version.
- Derived terms
- downgradable, downgrader