reduced
Americanadjective
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made smaller, lower, or less; diminished.
Individuals who experience depression have reduced levels of serotonin in their brains.
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Mathematics. noting a polynomial equation in which the second highest power is missing.
The cubic equation x3 − 4x + 4 = 0 is reduced.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of reduced
Explanation
A reduced thing has been lessened or subtracted from. If you want to ride your bike in Italy and you’re on a budget, look for reduced airfare. For a reduced risk of injury, wear a helmet when you get there. To reduce something is to make it smaller or lessen it in some way. Therefore, anything reduced is smaller than it was before. If you’re pedaling your way through Italy and hit a giant hill, you’ll probably have reduced pedal power and go much slower. This word applies to things that are going down in degree or amount. There could be reduced pain, reduced cost, or reduced size. Anything described as reduced can also be called decreased.
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.
The budget also establishes 22,770 new slots for free or reduced childcare, which Newsom had proposed decreasing.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 30, 2026
Students were given an extra minute to get to their next lesson, and the penalty for lateness was reduced to half a day in reflection.
From BBC • Jun. 30, 2026
In the above example, the couple, both 65, could see their taxable income reduced by an additional $12,000.
From MarketWatch • Jun. 30, 2026
France has reduced output at its nuclear reactors, because the rivers where it discharges water used to cool the reactors are already too hot.
From Barron's • Jun. 30, 2026
Scores of people, including Antonio Nuñez and Ian Manuel, were entitled to reduced sentences that would give them a “meaningful opportunity for release.”
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
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.
