Synonyms

diminish

American

[dih-min-ish] / dɪˈmɪn ɪʃ /

verb (used with object)

to make or cause to seem smaller, less, less important, etc.; lessen; reduce.
Architecture. to give (a column) a form tapering inward from bottom to top.
Music. to make (an interval) smaller by a chromatic half step than the corresponding perfect or minor interval.
to detract from the authority, honor, stature, or reputation of; disparage.

verb (used without object)

to lessen; decrease.

diminish British

/ dɪˈmɪnɪʃ /

verb

to make or become smaller, fewer, or less
(tr) architect to cause (a column, etc) to taper
(tr) music to decrease (a minor or perfect interval) by a semitone
to belittle or be belittled; reduce in authority, status, etc; depreciate

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

What does diminish mean? To diminish is to become smaller, fewer, or less, as in If we don’t order more, our stock of supplies will slowly diminish until we run out completely. It can also mean to make smaller, fewer, or less, as in We need to diminish our reliance on fossil fuels. Close synonyms of these senses of diminish are reduce, decrease, and lessen. Diminish can also be used in less literal ways. It can mean to make something seem smaller or less significant, as in The senator tried to diminish his role in the scandal. The verb downplay is used in a similar way. To diminish a person is to reduce or take away from their stature, reputation, or authority in some way—to belittle or disparage them, as in The new tell-all book is clearly an attempt to diminish a man who is regarded as a legend in his field. Example: My interest in sports has diminished since I was a kid—I’m only a casual fan now.

Synonym Usage

See decrease.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

Inflected Forms

Participles

Conjugated Forms

Present

Past

Future

Etymology

Origin of diminish

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; blend of diminuen (from Anglo-French diminuer, from Medieval Latin dīminuere, from Latin dēminuere “to make smaller”) and minishen minish

Explanation

Diminish means to make smaller or lesser. If you cover a lightbulb with a dark lamp shade, the light from the lamp will diminish. It can also mean become less important. Once the light has been dimmed, its role in lighting the room is diminished. If you look at diminish, you see 'minis' which comes from the Latin word minus, as in subtraction. Other words that share this root are miniature and minuscule, all of which mean something that is small, or at least smallish.

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Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

diminish diminishes diminished diminishing

Downgrading to an indoor arena would diminish the magnitude of the occasion.

From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026

Prather said she did not expect it to diminish turnout.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 15, 2026

In the short term, Iran or China will achieve asymmetric gains, but over time these returns will diminish.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 8, 2026

“I believe the VIX is currently being suppressed by options flows and other dynamics. Those effects should diminish after tomorrow’s expiration,” Kramer said.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026

Lie down next to him, a wrinkle in the sheet, and contemplate his pain and by doing so ease it, diminish it.

From "Jazz" by Toni Morrison

The "gender pace gap" diminishes to 0.25% in 100-mile races, according to a study of more than 20 years of amateur ultra-race data conducted by RunRepeat, in collaboration with the International Association of Ultrarunners,

From BBC ● Sep. 9, 2026

But it’s also empirically obvious that the wider the inequality, the more social solidarity diminishes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 10, 2026

“Nothing about the court’s finding regarding competency diminishes the seriousness of the loss or the pain experienced by those who knew and loved Mr. Handy.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 23, 2026

None of this diminishes the extraordinary technical skill of early anatomists.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 21, 2026

One other prejudice people have about mathematics is that its study somehow diminishes one’s feeling for nature and the “big” questions.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

With far less leisure time and diminished income, recreational facilities are turned over to food production, notably small-scale greenhouses and vertical farming for producing varied fruits, vegetables, nuts and legumes.

From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026

Randy, secretly taking a GLP-1 himself, insists to his wife Sharon that his newly diminished appetite is simply evidence of superior habits.

From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2026

In some sense, it is a miracle that the party survived, though it has held on in a deeply diminished fashion.

From Slate ● Sep. 18, 2026

Military planners worry the U.S. has rushed so many munitions to the Middle East that America’s ability to defend against potential threats from China and Russia has been diminished, The Wall Street Journal has reported.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 16, 2026

A diminished chord is built from two minor thirds, which add up to a diminished fifth.

From "Understanding Basic Music Theory" by Catherine Schmidt-Jones and Russel Jones

But as the general election approaches, both candidates are diminishing the president’s presence in their messaging by varying degrees.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 9, 2026

The long-time rivals had been expected to finally settle their differences and face off in November, but the likelihood of that happening is diminishing as an agreement over the venue has yet to be reached.

From BBC ● Sep. 2, 2026

Given the sheer size of the devastation and the passing days, the chances of finding survivors are diminishing.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 1, 2026

On top of that, Kedrosky is alarmed, he said, at the model convergence and diminishing returns of large language models’ performance.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 1, 2026

Blinking the snow from my eyes, I scanned the faces of those who lingered, searching for two children among the diminishing crowd.

From "The City Beautiful" by Aden Polydoros

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023