demotion

American  

[dih-moh-shuhn] / dɪˈmoʊ ʃən /

noun

demotions plural

1. the act or process of reducing to a lower grade, rank, class, or position, or the result of such a reduction.

   The committee is charged with hearing employee appeals and addressing complaints regarding suspension, demotion, layoff, or termination of employment.

   The company’s bad quarter resulted in a further demotion of their overall rating from C+ to C.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• demotions
  plural

Etymology

Origin of demotion

de- + (pro)motion

Explanation

A demotion is when your rank or position is lowered by a superior. In the military, disobeying orders could result in a demotion. In the military — as well as other careers — people usually move up the ladder with time, rising through the ranks. When your superiors bring you up to a higher level, that's called a promotion, like an assistant manager becoming a manager. However, if you're a manager and you get bumped back to assistant manager, that's a demotion. Demotions occur when someone has broken the rules or has done a poor job. Demotions usually come with a reduction in pay too.

Example Sentences

This comes ahead of MSCI’s decision next week to determine if Indonesia will hold on to its emerging-market status or drop to a frontier-market classification, a demotion that analysts say will spur heavy capital outflows.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 19, 2026

After elevating custom couture to an art form, just the word “content” sounds like a demotion.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 29, 2026

It added sites which were penalised but then fixed the issue could submit a request to Google to have the demotion reconsidered.

From BBC • Apr. 15, 2026

Bovino’s apparent demotion came after he made demonstrably false claims that Pretti was aiming to kill federal agents.

From Salon • Mar. 5, 2026

Under normal circumstances, his demotion would have given Strauss an opening to lobby against the test ban; but Eisenhower was losing patience with Strauss, too, largely because of his intransigence on that very topic.

From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik