downgrade

Noun

downgrade (plural downgrades)

1. A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.

   Antonyms:

   upgrade

2. A downhill gradient on a road or railway.
   • [...] dynamic braking is fitted to the 99-ton, 55 ft.-long locomotives to help control these otherwise vacuum-braked trains on the long, continuous downgrades encountered on the coastal route.1960 April, “English Electric diesels for the Sudan Railways”, in Trains Illustrated, page 218
3. A reduction in quality; a descent towards an inferior state.
   • Near-synonyms: degradation, worsening, deterioration

   Synonyms:

   degradation, worsening, deterioration

Verb

IPA/ˌdaʊnˈɡɹeɪd/

downgrade (third-person singular simple present downgrades, present participle downgrading, simple past and past participle downgraded)

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

   Antonyms:

   upgrade

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. (transitive) 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

   Synonyms:

   degrade, demote, defame, reduce, abase, bring down to size, cut down to size, debase, demean, depress

4. to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
5. To revert software back to an older version.

   Synonyms:

   restore, revert, roll back, deconvert, reconvert, rehabilitate, restitute