tapered

[tey-perd]

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

Word History and Origins

Origin of tapered¹

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

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.

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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.

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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.

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As sales growth tapered off and the company continued losing money, though, investors soured on its shares, which slid more than 80% over the course of 2022.

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These shapes, which were sometimes thousands of miles apart, weren’t natural formations: Defined by stone walls, they tapered over large stretches of terrain, ending at enclosures surrounded by curious circular shapes.

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Related Words

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