How to Use demote in a Sentence

demote

verb
  • Teachers can choose to demote a student to a lower grade.
  • The army major was demoted to captain.
  • First she was demoted, then fired.
    — Irin Carmon, Vulture, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Five of her six school board colleagues voted to demote her last week.
    — Bob Egelko, San Francisco Chronicle, 1 Apr. 2021
  • Still, that doesn’t mean some restaurants weren’t demoted from the list this year.
    — Tori Latham, Robb Report, 18 Oct. 2024
  • Who stays in the rotation and who gets demoted to the bullpen?
    — Justice Delos Santos, Mercury News, 28 May 2026
  • Powell has said the law is clear he cannot be fired or demoted, but does that matter?
    — Jim Cramer, CNBC, 21 Apr. 2025
  • Then she’s demoted to a kind of scullery maid, milking the cows and sweeping the floors.
    — Peter Debruge, Variety, 24 Jan. 2025
  • He had been demoted by the 49ers at the time of the trade with the Jets.
    — USA TODAY, 9 Jan. 2018
  • He was demoted from sergeant and suspended for six days.
    — Ashley Luthern, jsonline.com, 5 Mar. 2026
  • He was demoted to Triple-A and hasn’t pitched in the major leagues since.
    — Dallas News, 10 Feb. 2020
  • This season he will likely be demoted to the practice squad.
    — Miami Herald, 24 Aug. 2025
  • Also, two sergeants and a trooper were fired, demoted or resigned.
    — Paul Egan, Freep.com, 17 Oct. 2025
  • The Royals will need to decide which player will be demoted to make room.
    — Jaylon Thompson, Kansas City Star, 1 Sep. 2025
  • This wouldn't be as big of a deal if Glennon were demoted to backup status.
    — Rich Campbell, chicagotribune.com, 30 Apr. 2017
  • If one path feels like a slog, give yourself permission to demote it to a side interest.
    — Amy Lindgren, Twin Cities, 6 Sep. 2025
  • The club stuck to its plan and demoted Abel to the minors Monday.
    — Matt Gelb, New York Times, 20 May 2025
  • Doval had been demoted, not just from the closer’s role but out of the big leagues altogether.
    — Evan Webeck, The Mercury News, 9 Aug. 2024
  • Hegseth has also sought to demote Kelly from his retired rank of captain.
    — Seth Klamann, Denver Post, 11 Feb. 2026
  • In less than two years, Bo was denounced, demoted and expelled from the party.
    — Alex W. Palmer, New York Times, 3 Apr. 2018
  • Mavromatis alleges that she was demoted and then fired.
    — Stacy Perman, Los Angeles Times, 22 Apr. 2026
  • That performance was then used to demote me from the team, basically.
    — Saajan Jogia, MSNBC Newsweek, 13 Aug. 2025
  • He was demoted to Low-A, in Greenville, and didn’t fare much better.
    — Louisa Thomas, The New Yorker, 12 June 2023
  • Since last April, the Reds have recalled/demoted him six times, four times already this year.
    — Paul Daugherty, Cincinnati.com, 27 June 2019
  • Crowley said that she has been demoted several times after she was removed as chief.
    — Matthew Rodriguez, CBS News, 10 June 2026
  • And after being sent down once in early May, he was demoted again near the end of June.
    — Jack Harris, Los Angeles Times, 24 May 2024
  • The move marked the second time Sisco – one of the team’s top prospects -- has been demoted to the minors in the past month.
    — Eduardo A. Encina, baltimoresun.com, 13 July 2018
  • The next month, Sheriff Scott demoted him to work the graveyard shift as a jailer.
    — Jerry Mitchell Rory Doyle, New York Times, 19 July 2023
  • The pilot was demoted to street patrol after the dispute.
    — Peter D'abrosca , Alexandra Koch, FOXNews.com, 8 Feb. 2026
  • Once complete, that merger will demote Tesco to the second-largest grocery store in the country.
    — Hallie Detrick, Fortune, 2 July 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'demote.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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