DIMINISHED

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does diminished mean? 

• DIMINISHED (adjective)
  The adjective DIMINISHED has 4 senses:

1. impaired by diminution

2. (of an organ or body part) diminished in size or strength as a result of disease or injury or lack of use

3. (of musical intervals) reduction by a semitone of any perfect or minor musical interval

4. made to seem smaller or less (especially in worth)

  Familiarity information: DIMINISHED used as an adjective is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DIMINISHED (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Impaired by diminution

Synonyms:

diminished; lessened; vitiated; weakened

Similar:

impaired (diminished in strength, quality, or utility)

Sense 2

Meaning:

(of an organ or body part) diminished in size or strength as a result of disease or injury or lack of use

Synonyms:

atrophied; diminished; wasted

Context example:

partial paralysis resulted in an atrophied left arm

Sense 3

Meaning:

(of musical intervals) reduction by a semitone of any perfect or minor musical interval

Context example:

a diminished fifth

Similar:

decreased; reduced (made less in size or amount or degree)

Domain category:

music (an artistic form of auditory communication incorporating instrumental or vocal tones in a structured and continuous manner)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Made to seem smaller or less (especially in worth)

Synonyms:

belittled; diminished; small

Context example:

her comments made me feel small

Similar:

decreased; reduced (made less in size or amount or degree)

 Context examples 

Diminished or absent blood supply to the brain caused by obstruction (thrombosis or embolism) of an artery resulting in neurologic damage.

(Cerebrovascular Ischemia, NCI Thesaurus)

CREB mutants exhibit deficiencies in spatial learning tasks, while flies overexpressing or lacking CREB show enhanced or diminished learning, respectively.

(CREB Activation Signaling Pathway, NCI Thesaurus/BIOCARTA)

Diminished responsiveness characterized by trancelike states and by rigidity of muscles; patient tends to remain in any position in which he is placed.

(Catalepsy, NIH CRISP Thesaurus)

Diminished immune responsiveness to specific antigens.

(Anergy, NCI Thesaurus)

Today, measurements by Earth-based telescopes indicate the oval that Juno flew over has diminished in width by one-third and height by one-eighth since Voyager times.

(NASA's Juno Probes the Depths of Jupiter's Great Red Spot, NASA)

When bacteria were eliminated the number of lesions was greatly diminished.

(Researchers connect brain blood vessel lesions to intestinal bacteria, NIH)

When administered topically, eflornithine irreversibly inhibits skin ODC activity, thereby inhibiting the synthesis of polyamines; inhibition of polyamine synthesis may result in diminished hair growth and epidermal cell turnover.

(Eflornithine Hydrochloride Ointment, NCI Thesaurus)

The reduction in serum DHT levels results in diminished stimulation of androgen receptors in the nuclei of prostate cells and, so, diminished prostate cell proliferation.

(Finasteride, NCI Thesaurus)

The NQO1*2 protein has both diminished catalytic activity and altered degradation by the ubiquitin-proteasomal system.

(NQO1*2 Allele, NCI Thesaurus)

DIM also antagonizes androgen receptor activity, which may result in diminished cell proliferation and apoptosis in susceptible tumor cell populations.

(Oral Microencapsulated Diindolylmethane, NCI Thesaurus)