downgrade
down·grade/ˈdaʊnˌɡɹeɪd/noun, verb
downgrade is spelled D-O-W-N-G-R-A-D-E: 9 letters and 2 syllables (down·grade). It appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th most frequent word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). As a noun, downgrade means “A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The plural of downgrade is downgrades.
How many letters and syllables are in downgrade?
| Letters | 9: D-O-W-N-G-R-A-D-E |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 2: down·grade |
| In writing | 1.7 times per million words; the 21,516th 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 downgrade?
Downgrade appears 1.7 times per million words in written English, the 21,516th 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 downgrade?
- /ˈdaʊnˌɡɹeɪd/
As a verb (“To place lower in position”): /ˌdaʊnˈɡɹeɪd/.
Downgrade has 2 syllables, split down·grade in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-downgrade.wav, LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-downgrade_(verb).wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of downgrade
- downgrades plural, present, singular, he/she/it
- downgrading participle, present
- downgraded participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does downgrade mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.
- 2
A downhill gradient on a road or railway.
- 3
A reduction in quality; a descent towards an inferior state.
Near-synonyms: degradation, worsening, deterioration
verb
- 1
To place lower in position.
The stock was downgraded from ‘buy’ to ‘sell’.
- 2
To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down.
- 3
To disparage.
- 4
to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
- 5
To revert software back to an older version.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Downgrade in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | desmejora, desmejoramiento, degradación, empeoramiento , degradar, desmejorar |
| French | rétrograder |
| German | herabstufen, herunterstufen |
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.
Where does downgrade come from?
From down- + grade.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).