downgraded

Downgraded is the past tense and past participle of the verb downgrade. It describes the act of lowering something in rank, quality, importance, or status, or the resulting state after such an action. As an adjective, downgraded can modify a noun to indicate a lower level or quality.

Etymology and form: The word combines down- with grade, conveying a reduction in level. The construction follows the regular English pattern for verbs: the base verb downgrade, with the past tense and past participle formed as downgraded. It is used across many domains to express a reversal of a prior higher status or quality.

Contexts of use: Downgraded appears in corporate, financial, technological, and service contexts. In organizations, an employee can be downgraded from manager to supervisor; in project management, a task may be downgraded from high priority to medium. In finance, a credit rating may be downgraded by a rating agency. In technology, software or devices can be downgraded to an earlier version for compatibility or stability. In security or access control, permissions can be downgraded, reducing user rights. In transportation or services, seat classes or service levels may be downgraded.

Examples: The airline downgraded her to economy due to overbooking. The project was downgraded from critical to important after the review. A policy change downgraded the applicant’s status in the eligibility queue.

See also: downgrade, demotion. Synonyms include demoted, reduced, or lowered; antonyms include upgraded or promoted.