demote

verb

de·​mote di-ˈmōt How to pronounce demote (audio)
ˌdē-
demoted; demoting
Synonyms of demotenext

transitive verb

1
: to reduce to a lower grade or rank
demote a student
was demoted from major to captain
2
: to relegate to a less important position
a pitcher demoted to the bullpen
demotion
di-ˈmō-shən How to pronounce demote (audio)
ˌdē-
noun

Synonyms of demote

Relevance
See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus

Examples of demote in a Sentence

Teachers can choose to demote a student to a lower grade. The army major was demoted to captain.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Matthew Brewer served as the Chicago Housing Authority board’s chair until Johnson sought to demote him amid a power struggle over who would be the next CEO of the nation’s third-largest public housing agency. — Alice Yin, Chicago Tribune, 5 Aug. 2026 Acquiring Vodnik cost Miami Norby (who played in 189 games for the Marlins across three seasons but was demoted to Triple A in June) and May (a pitcher prospect in High A). — Jordan McPherson, Miami Herald, 5 Aug. 2026 Microsoft just demoted frontier models to an escalation tier inside its own product, and the demotion made the product better and cheaper at the same time. — Jon Markman, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026 All of them have either been demoted from the Astros’ starting rotation or designated for assignment. — Chandler Rome, New York Times, 4 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for demote

Word History

Etymology

de- + -mote (as in promote)

First Known Use

1872, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Time Traveler
The first known use of demote was in 1872

Rhymes for demote

See All Rhymes for demote

Browse Nearby Words

Demosthenic
demote
demothball
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Demote.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demote. Accessed 8 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

Kids Definition

demote

verb
de·​mote di-ˈmōt How to pronounce demote (audio)
ˈdē-
demoted; demoting
: to reduce to a lower grade or rank
demotion
di-ˈmō-shən How to pronounce demote (audio)
ˈdē-
noun

More from Merriam-Webster on demote

Nglish: Translation of demote for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of nurture

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

'Sneaked' or 'Snuck': Which is correct?

Why does English have so many silent letters?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

How long is a jiffy?
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All