down·grade
ˈdau̇n-ˌgrād 
1
: a downward grade (as of a road)
2
: a descent toward an inferior state
a career on the downgrade
downgraded; downgrading; downgrades
Examples of downgrade in a Sentence
Noun
a downgrade in the company's stock prices
a singing career on the downgrade
Verb
The restaurant was downgraded from three to two stars.
She didn't intend to downgrade the importance of her colleague's work.
Recent Examples on the Web
Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 30 Jan. 2026
This after striking out on USF’s Alex Golesh, who himself is fairly unproven (23-15 in three seasons) but hard to call a downgrade for Auburn after Hugh Freeze’s three straight losing records.
—Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026
Celia Fernandez
tasia Jensen, CNBC, 7 Feb. 2026
The Patriots saw one defensive starter increase his practice participation and another defensive starter get downgraded on Thursday.
—Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for downgrade
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Noun
Bloomberg | Bloomberg | Getty Images Indonesian stock exchange CEO Iman Rachman resigned on Friday, following a rout that saw the country's share market lose $84 billion over the past two days on concerns over a possible downgrade by index provider MSCI.
—Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 30 Jan. 2026
This after striking out on USF’s Alex Golesh, who himself is fairly unproven (23-15 in three seasons) but hard to call a downgrade for Auburn after Hugh Freeze’s three straight losing records.
—Stewart Mandel, New York Times, 28 Jan. 2026
Verb
To stretch their budget as far as possible, the couple not only lived in the home but also downgraded their car and canceled subscriptions such as YouTube TV.
—Celia Fernandez
tasia Jensen, CNBC, 7 Feb. 2026
The Patriots saw one defensive starter increase his practice participation and another defensive starter get downgraded on Thursday.
—Doug Kyed, Boston Herald, 5 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for downgrade
Cite this Entry
“Downgrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/downgrade. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
Copy CitationKids Definition
downgrade
1 of 2 noun
down·grade
-ˌgrād
1
: a downward slope
2
: a lowering toward a worse condition
a neighborhood on the downgrade
downgrade
adverb
downgrade
2 of 2 verb
: to lower in grade, rank, or standing
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