relegate

American  

[rel-i-gayt] / ˈrɛl ɪˌgeɪt /

verb (used with object)

• relegates,
  present (3rd person singular)
• relegated,
  past participle,  past
• relegating
  present participle

1. to send or consign to an inferior position, place, or condition.

   He has been relegated to a post at the fringes of the diplomatic service.

2. to consign or commit (a matter, task, etc.), as to a person.

   He relegates the less pleasant tasks to his assistant.

   Synonyms:

   entrust, consign, assign

3. to assign or refer (something) to a particular class or kind.

4. to send into exile; banish.

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relegate British  

/ ˈrɛlɪˌɡeɪt /

verb

1. to move to a position of less authority, importance, etc; demote

2. (usually passive) to demote (a football team, etc) to a lower division

3. to assign or refer (a matter) to another or others, as for action or decision

4. (foll by to) to banish or exile

5. to assign (something) to a particular group or category

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• relegation
  noun
• relegable
  adjective
• relegatable
  adjective
• unrelegable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• relegating
  present
• relegated
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• relegate
  simple
• relegates
  simple
• have relegated
  perfect
• has relegated
  perfect
• am relegating
  progressive
• are relegating
  progressive
• is relegating
  progressive
• have been relegating
  perfect progressive
• has been relegating
  perfect progressive

Past

• relegated
  simple
• had relegated
  perfect
• was relegating
  progressive
• were relegating
  progressive
• had been relegating
  perfect progressive

Future

• will relegate
  simple
• will have relegated
  perfect
• will be relegating
  progressive
• will have been relegating
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of relegate

First recorded in 1375–1425; late Middle English from Latin relēgātus, past participle of relēgāre “to send away, dispatch”; see re-, legate

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Explanation

Relegate means "to assign to a lower position." If the quarterback of the football team stops making decent throws, he might be relegated to the position of benchwarmer. Relegate rhymes with delegate — both words derive from the Latin legare, "to send." Relegate means to send someone down in rank. Delegate means to send someone in your place to complete a task. In the workplace, managers who can't figure out how to delegate may get relegated to a lesser rank.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

relegate relegates relegated relegating

Green is good, but it’s better wildlife encounters that might eventually relegate diesel to travel’s endangered species list.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 21, 2026

Before the show, the singer told the Jerusalem Post he was determined to concentrate on the music and relegate any criticisms to "background noise".

From BBC ● May 12, 2026

"And the US threatens to relegate the organisation to even greater irrelevance if it doesn't get what it wants," she told AFP.

From Barron's ● Mar. 27, 2026

Don’t relegate it to a cheese plate or a passing sprinkle on a salad.

From Salon ● May 24, 2025

Aditya looked reproachful in these later sketches, his eyes beckoning the artist to stay with him for just a while longer, to not forget, to not relegate him to these empty pages.

From "When Dimple Met Rishi" by Sandhya Menon

Still, workers clearly have some time before AI relegates them to the permanent underclass.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 4, 2026

Apple TV+ is so far down the list of streamers by watch time that Nielsen relegates it to the “other streaming” category of a pie chart.

From Slate ● Jan. 16, 2025

"We're not doing anything illegal. We act according to the law. As for being scared, fear mustn't prevail. I believe in what I'm doing. And this conviction relegates fear to second place."

From BBC ● Jan. 31, 2024

The drafting of Jaxon Smith-Njigba likely relegates Eskridge to being the fourth receiver.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 22, 2023

Thus to Professor Moore climatic conditions seem of great importance, while Professor Mitchell relegates them to a very minor position.

From Readings in Money and Banking Selected and Adapted by Chester Arthur Phillips

Hull were relegated twice in the period, costing the Tigers £93.78m.

From BBC ● Oct. 13, 2026

Prior to his departure, Guardiola spoke about the charges against City in November 2024 and said he "will be here" even if the club were relegated.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

Senior figures within English football are concerned that Manchester City could play in the Champions League next season even if they are relegated from the Premier League for breaching financial regulations.

From BBC ● Oct. 7, 2026

It risks sanctions ranging from being stripped of its titles to being relegated from the league.

From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026

Eventually old man Gusdorf had gotten royally skinned when the bottom fell out of cotton, and he wound up relegated to a sharecropper’s role forever after.

From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols

The crown jewels of the arcade industry, they occupy the building's first two floors, relegating video games to the basement and upper levels.

From Barron's ● Dec. 26, 2025

Cerebras inscribed the memory directly on to the wafer rather than relegating it to distant chips and chiplets in high-bandwidth memory mazes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 3, 2025

There was a resultant concern that relegating Lyon would put Ligue 1 at disadvantage in terms of its global pull.

From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2025

While working on the project, she realized there are few depictions of boys and young men whose story is anchored in love, rather than relegating love to a side plot.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 9, 2025

I resolved to fasten it upon my dissecting board, and analyse it, relegating it if possible to its order, genus, and species.

From An Ocean Tramp by William McFee

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Related Words

• consign
• entrust
• refer

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