DIMINISH

v. 1 decrease, decline, abate, lessen, reduce, lower, shrink, curtail, contract, lop, crop, dock, clip, prune, cut, truncate, cut down, abbreviate, shorten, abridge, compress, condense, pare (down), scale down, boil down As the height increases, the pressure diminishes The need for police patrols was diminished when we hired security guards. 2 belittle, disparage, degrade, downgrade, discredit, detract (from), vitiate, debase, deprecate, demean, derogate, depreciate, vilipend, devalue, cheapen, put down, dismiss, humiliate, demean, reject His abuse by the authorities did not diminish him in her eyes 3 wane, fade, dwindle, ebb, die out or away, peter out, recede, subside; slacken, let up, wind down, slow (down), ease (off), Colloq run out of steam Soaking in the hot water, I felt the tensions of mind and body gradually diminishing The campaign finally diminished to a negligible effort.