DictionaryAI

diminish

verb
di-MIN-ish/dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/

Formsdiminishes, diminishing, diminished

7 meanings of diminish

Practice

  1. 1
    verbtransitive
    To cause something to become smaller in size, amount, or degree.

    Repeated layoffs diminish the company's ability to compete.

    Years of overuse had diminished the soil's fertility.

    Similarreduce, lessen, decrease, weaken, erode

    Oppositeincrease, enhance, boost, strengthen

    Note

    The word behind this sense is a blend. It took shape under the pull of two older verbs: diminue, from Old French diminuer and Latin dīminuo, and minish. Its objects are often abstract, such as liberty, ability, fertility or confidence. Simon Jenkins writes in 2012 that each government 'diminishes liberty.' The loss is real, but it is felt rather than measured.

  2. 2
    verbintransitive
    To become less or smaller in amount or degree.

    Public interest in the scandal slowly diminished.

    As supplies diminish, prices tend to rise.

    Similardecrease, decline, dwindle, wane, shrink

    Oppositeincrease, grow, rise

    Note

    Here the verb takes no object: things diminish on their own, as interest or supplies do. The same verb also serves the causing sense, so look for an object to tell them apart. Layoffs diminish a company's strength, but its strength simply diminishes. The verb itself does not change. Only the sentence around it does.

  3. 3
    verbtransitive
    To lessen the authority, dignity, or strength of someone or something.

    Critics tried to diminish her achievements.

    The scandal diminished the senator's standing among voters.

    Similarundermine, belittle, weaken, damage, tarnish

    Oppositeenhance, bolster, strengthen

    Note

    Here what shrinks is standing, not size. The King James Bible of 1611 threatens to diminish proud nations so they no longer rule over others, and Milton's stars "hide their diminished heads" before a greater glory. Today the past participle does most of the work. In V. S. Naipaul's A House for Mr Biswas (1961), Mr Biswas "felt diminished" beside the overpowering Seth. Gamers use nerf for the same kind of weakening.

  4. 4
    verbtransitive
    To make something appear smaller or less important than it truly is, or to dismiss it as unimportant.

    Some reviewers diminish the film's flaws to please the studio.

    The official report diminished the scope of the problem.

    Similardownplay, minimize, understate, belittle, trivialize

    Oppositeexaggerate, overstate, magnify

    Note

    Nothing actually shrinks under this sense. Only its apparent size does. That is the line between it and making something smaller: diminishing a problem in a report leaves the problem as large as ever. It often stands beside deny. Drachinifel argues in 2018 that Britain's role in the slave trade 'cannot be denied, or its effects diminished.'

  5. 5
    verbintransitive
    To fade away little by little until nothing remains.

    Daylight diminished as the sun sank behind the hills.

    Hopes of a rescue slowly diminish with each passing hour.

    Similarfade, wane, dwindle, ebb, dim

    Oppositegrow, intensify

    Note

    Sounds and light are natural subjects for this sense, fading as they move away or die out. In Graham Greene's The Heart of the Matter (1948), a priest's 'ho, ho, ho' diminishes mournfully as he hurries off, and the voice thins with distance. Unlike the general 'grow less' meaning, this one runs all the way to nothing.

  6. 6
    verbtransitive
    To take away or subtract an amount from a larger total.

    High fees diminish the returns investors take home.

    Each repair diminished the fund set aside for emergencies.

    Similarreduce, deplete, erode, cut

    Oppositeincrease, augment

    Note

    An older construction, diminish from, appears in this sense: you diminish something from a total, as you would subtract it. The 1611 Bible pairs it with its opposite: 'Ye shall not add unto the word … neither shall ye diminish ought from it.' Today the total itself usually becomes the object, as when fees diminish the returns investors take home.

  7. 7
    verbintransitive
    To become gradually narrower toward an end or point.

    Classical columns diminish slightly as they rise, narrowing toward the capital.

    The spire diminished steadily until it ended in a sharp tip.

    Similartaper, narrow

    Oppositewiden, broaden

    Note

    This sense is about shape rather than quantity. Something diminishes along its length, narrowing toward one end, rather than over time. Elizabeth Gaskell's Cranford (1853) uses it of chair and table legs that 'diminished as they neared the ground.' Taper is the everyday equivalent. Diminish gives the description a more deliberate, measured tone.

Use it in a sentence

Write your own sentence with diminish, and AI will tell you whether it fits and which meaning you used.

Origin

The word was formed under the influence of both 'diminue' (from Old French diminuer, from Latin dīminuo) and 'minish'.