diminished
di·min·ished/dɪˈmɪnɪʃt/adjective, verb
diminished is spelled D-I-M-I-N-I-S-H-E-D: 10 letters and 3 syllables (di·min·ished). It appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As an adjective, diminished means “lessened, reduced” (English Wiktionary, September 2026).
How many letters and syllables are in diminished?
| Letters | 10: D-I-M-I-N-I-S-H-E-D |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 3: di·min·ished |
| In writing | 4.7 times per million words; the 11,685th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | none measured in search |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How common is diminished?
Diminished appears 4.7 times per million words in written English, the 11,685th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce diminished?
- /dɪˈmɪnɪʃt/
Diminished has 3 syllables, split di·min·ished in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-diminished.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of diminished
- more diminished comparative
- most diminished superlative
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does diminished mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
adjective
- 1
lessened, reduced
The diminished Roman Empire never recovered from the sack of Rome.
- 2
made to seem less important, impressive, or valuable
She felt diminished by the report card.
- 3
reduced by a semitone
verb
- 1
simple past and past participle of diminish
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you abbreviate diminished?
Wiktionary records one abbreviation of diminished: dim.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Diminished in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
In the sense (music) reduced by a semitone:
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | vermindert |
| Spanish | disminuido |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.