DIMINISHED

atrophied, wasted, diminished

(adjective) (of an organ or body part) diminished in size or strength as a result of disease or injury or lack of use; “partial paralysis resulted in an atrophied left arm”

belittled, diminished, small

(adjective) made to seem smaller or less (especially in worth); “her comments made me feel small”

diminished

(adjective) (of musical intervals) reduction by a semitone of any perfect or minor musical interval; “a diminished fifth”

diminished, lessened, vitiated, weakened

(adjective) impaired by diminution

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Verb

diminished

simple past tense and past participle of diminish

Adjective

diminished (comparative more diminished, superlative most diminished)

lessened, reduced

made to seem less important, impressive, or valuable

(music) reduced by a semitone

Antonyms

• (music): augmented

Coordinate terms

• (music): perfect

Source: Wiktionary


DIMINISH

Di*min"ish, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Diminished; p. pr. & vb. n. Diminishing.] Etym: [Pref. di- (= L. dis-) + minish: cf. L. diminuere, F. diminuer, OE. diminuen. See Dis-, and Minish.]

1. To make smaller in any manner; to reduce in bulk or amount; to lessen; -- opposed to augment or increase. Not diminish, but rather increase, the debt. Barrow.

2. To lessen the authority or dignity of; to put down; to degrade; to abase; to weaken. This doth nothing diminish their opinion. Robynson (More's Utopia). I will diminish them, that they shall no more rule over the nations. Ezek. xxix. 15. O thou . . . at whose sight all the stars Hide their diminished heads. Milton.

3. (Mus.)

Definition: To make smaller by a half step; to make (an interval) less than minor; as, a diminished seventh.

4. To take away; to subtract. Neither shall ye diminish aught from it. Deut. iv. 2. Diminished column, one whose upper diameter is less than the lower.

– Diminished, or Diminishing, scale, a scale of gradation used in finding the different points for drawing the spiral curve of the volute. Gwilt.

– Diminishing rule (Arch.), a board cut with a concave edge, for fixing the entasis and curvature of a shaft.

– Diminishing stile (Arch.), a stile which is narrower in one part than in another, as in many glazed doors.

Syn.

– To decrease; lessen; abate; reduce; contract; curtail; impair; degrade. See Decrease.

Di*min"ish, v. i.

Definition: To become or appear less or smaller; to lessen; as, the apparent size of an object diminishes as we recede from it.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

3 July 2025

SENSE

(noun) the faculty through which the external world is apprehended; “in the dark he had to depend on touch and on his senses of smell and hearing”


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Coffee Trivia

Contrary to popular belief, coffee beans are not technically beans. They are referred to as such because of their resemblance to legumes. A coffee bean is a seed of the Coffea plant and the source for coffee. It is the pit inside the red or purple fruit, often referred to as a cherry. Just like ordinary cherries, the coffee fruit is also a so-called stone fruit.

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