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diminished Definition

di·min·ished (-is̸ht)

adjective

  1. made smaller; lessened; reduced
  2. Music lessened by a half step: said of intervals or of chords formed with such an interval

diminished Usage Examples

Modifies a noun

  • chord: Students ought to double the 3rd of a diminished chord.
  • responsibility: His offer to plead guilty to culpable homicide on the grounds of diminished responsibility had already been rejected by the Crown.
  • capacity: The additional oxygen demand caused by increased activity induces increased ventilation in the presence of a diminished maximum breathing capacity.
  • defense: In many respects the Irish diminished responsibility defense is an improvement over its English counterpart.
  • ability: Diminished ability to think or concentrate, or indecisiveness nearly every day.
  • flow: There is graying of vision caused by diminished flow of blood to the eyes.

Used with adjective complement

  • become: The scientist who cannot appreciate the beauty of the sunset has become diminished in his humanity.
diminished Quotes

If a man marries his housekeeper or his cook, the national dividend is diminished.

—Pigou, Arthur Cecil

The rights of every man are diminished when the rights of one man are threatened.

—Kennedy,John F(itzgerald)

The question that he frames in all but words Is what to make of a diminished thing.

—Frost, Robert Lee