moderate
Americanadjective
-
kept or keeping within reasonable or proper limits; not extreme, excessive, or intense.
a moderate price.
-
of medium quantity, extent, or amount.
a moderate income.
- Synonyms:
- average
-
mediocre or fair.
moderate talent.
-
calm or mild, as of the weather.
-
of or relating to moderates, as in politics or religion.
- Antonyms:
- radical
noun
-
moderates
plural
-
a person who is moderate in opinion or opposed to extreme views and actions, especially in politics or religion.
- Antonyms:
- radical
-
(usually initial capital letter) a member of a political party advocating moderate reform.
verb (used with object)
-
moderates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moderated,
past participle, past
-
moderating
present participle
-
to reduce the excessiveness of; make less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
to moderate the sharpness of one's words.
-
to preside over or at (a public forum, meeting, discussion, etc.).
verb (used without object)
-
moderates,
present (3rd person singular)
-
moderated,
past participle, past
-
moderating
present participle
-
to become less violent, severe, intense, or rigorous.
-
to act as moderator; preside.
adjective
-
not extreme or excessive; within due or reasonable limits
moderate demands
-
not violent; mild or temperate
-
of average quality or extent
moderate success
noun
verb
-
to become or cause to become less extreme or violent
-
to preside over a meeting, discussion, etc
-
to act as an external moderator of the overall standards and marks for (some types of educational assessment)
-
physics to slow down (neutrons), esp by using a moderator
-
(tr) to monitor (the conversations in an on-line chatroom) for bad language, inappropriate content, etc
Synonym Usage
Moderate, temperate, judicious, reasonable all stress the avoidance of excess—emotional, physical, intellectual, or otherwise. Moderate implies response or behavior that is by nature not excessive: a moderate drinker, a moderate amount of assistance. Temperate, interchangeable with moderate in some general uses, usually stresses the idea of caution, control, or self-restraint: a surprisingly temperate response to the angry challenge. Judicious emphasizes prudence and the exercise of careful judgment: a judicious balance between freedom and restraint; judicious care to offend neither side. Reasonable suggests the imposition or adoption of limits derived from the application of reason or good sense: a reasonable price; a reasonable amount of damages allotted to each claimant. See allay.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
moderatesimple
-
moderatessimple
-
have moderatedperfect
-
has moderatedperfect
-
am moderatingprogressive
-
are moderatingprogressive
-
is moderatingprogressive
-
have been moderatingperfect progressive
-
has been moderatingperfect progressive
Past
-
moderatedsimple
-
had moderatedperfect
-
was moderatingprogressive
-
were moderatingprogressive
-
had been moderatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of moderate
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English moderate (adjective) moderaten (verb), from Latin moderātus (past participle of moderārī “to mitigate, restrain, control”), equivalent to moderā- verb stem ( see modest) + -tus past participle suffix
Explanation
A moderate voter is someone who is politically speaking, in the center. In other words, they are not quite left or right, but somewhere in the middle. Moderate comes from the Latin for "medium sized," and as a noun and an adjective it means "middle, medium." If you get moderate rainfall, it's not too much and not too little. Goldilocks was known for her moderate tastes. As a verb, it means "to temper," or "to reduce from the extreme." If you moderate your speed while driving, you slow down a bit. If you moderate a discussion, you help two or more people have a reasonable conversation.
Vocabulary lists containing moderate
Liberty, Equality, Vocabulary: The French Revolution
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"The Flight of Icarus," Vocabulary from the myth
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"Mother Tongue" by Amy Tan
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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:
“Given the combination of elevated investments and weakening advertising revenues, we project operating profit margin to moderate further to 9% in the third quarter from 15% in the second quarter,” they note.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 19, 2026
Meanwhile, flat jobs data and moderate wage growth may lead it to think that firms have little opportunity to get away with hiking up prices.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
But the momentum behind weekly inflows has begun to moderate.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 18, 2026
The front-runner was Francesca Hong, a State Assemblywoman and DSA member who, according to the scant few surveys conducted, held a dominant lead over the moderate candidates in the field.
From Slate ● Aug. 17, 2026
Who needs Colorado Springs when you can find healing and comfort in the moderate climate of Hot Springs, Arkansas?
From "Moon Over Manifest" by Clare Vanderpool
The same poll found 51% of registered voters in Texas preferred Talarico, as did 63% of moderates.
From Salon ● Aug. 14, 2026
Then, in the race’s final weeks, two other moderates dropped out and Crowley revived his campaign with the sitting Democratic governor’s endorsement.
From Slate ● Aug. 12, 2026
Throughout the campaign, Stevens argued that El-Sayed would not be able to defeat Rogers, a refrain some moderates repeated Wednesday.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2026
In an essay for the Journal, author Charlotte Alter argues that Michigan’s Senate primary is more than just another fight between moderates and progressives.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 1, 2026
The prospect of a united front between Africans and Indians, between moderates and radicals, greatly worried them.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
U.S. stocks rose and the S&P 500 closed at a record high after a report of moderated wholesale inflation eased interest-rate fears.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026
And while valuations for those chip names have moderated, implied future growth keeps rising, remaining well below dot-com peaks.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 3, 2026
Inflation moderated even excluding the volatile food and energy categories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
In a discussion moderated by “Master of None” actor Lena Waithe, Prince-Bythewood and the cast talked about the making and almost-not-making of the film.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 29, 2026
Caesar was one of those who wanted to gain the principality of Rome; but if he had survived and had not moderated his expenditures after doing so, he would have destroyed the power he acquired.
From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli
The man has achieved significant political capital without moderating anything he stands for.
From Slate ● Aug. 7, 2026
Candidates could consider moderating their message to attract orphaned voters, though that can be perilous.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 3, 2026
Importantly, there are signs that Nike’s lifestyle-sneaker business is moderating to a healthier size and that its performance segment is improving.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 24, 2026
For workers, companies’ moderating budgets for pay increases show the price of hunkering down at their current job.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 24, 2026
Nye is a short, short- tempered man who has difficulty moderating his aggressive vigor, his talent for language both sharp and outspoken.
From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
