Downgrade

Origin

From - + grade.

Full definition of downgrade

Noun

1. A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.

Verb

1. To place lower in position.The stock was downgraded from 'buy' to 'sell'.
2. To 'dumb down', reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts.
• 2012, June 26, Genevieve Koski, Music: Reviews: Justin Bieber: Believe, More significantly, rigid deference to Bieber’s still-young core fan base keeps things resolutely PG, with any acknowledgement of sex either couched in vague “touch your body” workarounds or downgraded to desirous hand-holding and eye-gazing.
3. (meteorology) to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
4. (computing) To revert software back to an older version.

Synonyms

• degrade
• demote
• defame
• reduce
• revert
• ruin