downlevel

downlevel adjective: having lesser capabilities or a lower version number.

Adjective

downlevel (not comparable)

Having lesser capabilities or a lower version number.
- The downlevel Gillette Good News subbrand works in part because the rest of the razor line is positioned (and thus elevated) by the Gillette Sensor.2012, David A. Aaker, Building Strong Brands
To, from, or at a lower level.
- Provision is made for causing the switching threshold to vary directly with changes in downlevel voltage, whereby the line is recharged independent of variations in downlevel line voltage.1975, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin - Volume 18, Issue 2
- Ever deeper, ever darker, farther and farther below even the memory of light— Jacen staggered out from a downlevel stairwell onto some forgotten catwalk, gasping.2002, Matthew Woodring Stover, Traitor, page 171

downlevel (not comparable)

To, from, or at a lower level.
- Gillie had gone downlevel to check on Izaak, brought back a short holovid of the child playing a tune he'd written for the parrots.2005, Linnea Sinclair, An Accidental Goddess
- Relatively young for his species—only about four hundred standard years, Jax had heard—the big gastropod had nevertheless managed to carve out a profitable niche downlevel.2008, Michael Reaves, Jedi Twilight, page 129

downlevel (third-person singular simple present downlevels, present participle (US) downleveling or (UK) downlevelling, simple past and past participle (US) downleveled or (UK) downlevelled)

To go to a lower level.
- This downleveling of the low-intensity signals is done electronically but in the process the noise is downleveled an equal amount, as shown in Figure 14.136.1985, John S. Rigden, Physics and the sound of music, page 278
- We downleveled and hit 28-Green.2005, Linnea Sinclair, Gabriel's Ghost

downlevel (plural downlevels)

A lower level.
- T3 must have a width-to-length ratio to achieve a downlevel very quickly.1975, IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin - Volume 18, Issue 2, page 459
- Then, considering what we had been thinking about storage areas in the downlevels— "1991, Diane Duane, Peter Morwood, Space Cops: Mindblast, page 235

He strode purposely to the conduit, stepped inside, and willed himself downlevel.2010, Steve Stanton, Reconciliation:
The minus “-” indicates that the high tone is downleveled in a sequence of high tones.2011, Thomas Pechmann, Christopher Habel, Multidisciplinary Approaches to Language Production, page 127:
This deep in Coruscant's downlevels, the sun never shone; the only illumination came from antiquated glow globes, their faded light yellow as ancient parchment, that only darkened the shadows around.2005, Matthew Stover, Revenge of the Sith, page 396:

Verb
third-person singular present	downlevels
present participle US	downleveling
present participle UK	downlevelling
past participle US	downleveled
past US	downleveled
past participle UK	downlevelled
past UK	downlevelled
Noun
plural	downlevels

From down- + level.

What does downlevel mean?: Downlevel means having lesser capabilities or a lower version number.
How do you use downlevel in a sentence?: He strode purposely to the conduit, stepped inside, and willed himself downlevel.
What part of speech is downlevel?: Downlevel can be an adjective, an adverb, a verb or a noun.

Adapted from Wiktionary: downlevel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this entry: “downlevel.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/downlevel. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.