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# diminished

«diminished» in Mova's school dictionary: **made smaller, fewer or weaker** — its meaning for a pupil, its sense in the lessons and examples, with 2 sentences of Mova's corpora that use it.

### part of speech

adjective (diminished); verb, past form of "diminish" (diminish, diminishes, diminished, diminishing)

### meaning for a pupil

1) Diminished means made smaller, fewer or weaker. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#m1)

2) (formal) To be diminished is to become less important or less respected. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#m2)

3) (music) A diminished chord or interval is a little smaller than the usual one. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#m3)

### sense in the lessons

In formal maths and science texts "diminished by" means "made smaller by" or "minus": "20 diminished by 5". It describes things that shrink: a diminished supply, diminished light. In stories it shows weakness or loss. Phrases: diminished by, diminished returns, greatly diminished.

### examples

- The pile of sweets had diminished by lunchtime. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x1)
- 20 diminished by 5 is 15. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x2)
- The noise diminished as the train went away. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x3)
- His strength had diminished after the long illness. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x4)
- Light diminished as the sun set. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x5)
- The water in the tank diminished by a third. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x6)
- Her fear diminished once she saw the friendly dog. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x7)
- The play uses a diminished chord to sound spooky. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x8)
- Goll could do a thing that would be hard for another person, and he could do it so beautifully that he was not diminished by any action. [tree →](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/#x9)

### note

Formal; everyday words are "got smaller", "shrank", "went down". In maths, "a number diminished by 7" means the number minus 7 (n - 7). Trap: "diminished to 7" means it became 7, not minus 7. Noun: a diminution (formal).

### In the corpora

- [Go yourselves, get you straw where ye can find it; for nought of your work shall be diminished.'](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/torah/jps/EXO.127/)
- [Wealth gotten by vanity shall be diminished; but he that gathereth little by little shall increase.](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/ketuvim/jps/PRO.360/)

### Trees and pragmatics

[Every meaning and example of «diminished» parsed by Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/D/diminished/), each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.