tapered

American  

[tey-perd] / ˈteɪ pərd /

adjective

1. becoming gradually thinner, narrower, or smaller toward one end.

   The tapered table leg has long been a classic design.

   The wine’s bouquet hit our nostrils the moment we opened the elegantly tapered bottle.

2. reduced gradually over time.

   Once the allergic reaction had been alleviated, the patient was discharged with a tapered steroid dose and scheduled for outpatient follow-up.

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verb

1. the simple past tense and past participle of taper.

Other Word Forms

• untapered adjective

Etymology

Origin of tapered

First recorded in 1620–30; taper ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. ) for the adjective senses; taper ¹ ( def. ) + -ed ¹ ( def. ) for the verb sense

Example Sentences

Some of “the downside risk has tapered off in the large-cap tech names,” he said, but “bubble fears” remain in the wake of the market’s boom on artificial-intelligence enthusiasm.

From MarketWatch

Read: Retail sales tapered off before the shutdown.

From MarketWatch

In September, the Guardian reported that Treasury officials were considering a tapered approach, under which parents would receive most benefits for their first child and less for subsequent children.

From BBC

A Treasury selloff tapered off, leaving yields little changed from Friday, as Fed officials reiterated the message that a December cut is far from certain and the government shutdown kept delaying data points.

From The Wall Street Journal

In the late 1920s, the Sheaffer Pen Company introduced a lever-filling mechanism and a tapered shape that influenced the cigar-shaped fountain pens that came after.

From The Wall Street Journal

Related Words

• cramped
• definite
• limited
• precarious
• precise
• slender
• slim
• small
• thin
• tight