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.

---

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

The truth of this Dodgers season was recently found in a place where all sports truths are clipped and tapered and styled into reality.

From Los Angeles Times • Mar. 22, 2026

These claims had risen steadily for several years and almost reached a post-pandemic high of 2 million last fall, but they have since tapered off.

From MarketWatch • Feb. 12, 2026

For now, the geopolitical risk premium, which had been supporting oil prices, appears to have tapered off.

From Barron's • Jan. 15, 2026

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 • Nov. 10, 2025

Her hands, with long tapered fingers and wide nails, grasped pots and cooking spoons from shelves above the stove and placed them soundlessly on the glowing hot-plate burner.

From "When I Was Puerto Rican" by Esmeralda Santiago

Related Words

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