moderate
UK /ˈmɒdəɹət/ · US /ˈmɑdəɹət/ adjective, noun, verb
Forms moderates moderating moderated
- adjective Not excessive; acting in moderation. “moderate language”
- adjective (pathology) More than mild but less than severe.
- adjective Mediocre.
- adjective Average or middling, for example in price.
- adjective Not violent or rigorous; temperate; mild; gentle. “a moderate winter”
- adjective (US, politics) Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.
- noun One who holds an intermediate position between extremes, as in politics. “While the moderates usually propose political compromise, it's often only achieved when the extremists allow them so”
- noun (Christianity, historical) One of a party in Scottish Church history dominant in the 18th century, lax in doctrine and discipline, but intolerant of evangelicalism and popular rights. It caused the secessions of 1733 and 1761, and its final resultant was the Disruption of 1843.
- verb (transitive) To reduce the excessiveness of (something). “to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.”
- verb (intransitive) To become less excessive. “He used to be an extremist but moderated later in life.”
- verb (transitive) To preside over (something) as a moderator. “to moderate a synod”
- verb (intransitive) To act as a moderator; to assist in bringing to compromise. “We need more users to volunteer to moderate the comment section of our forum.”
- verb (transitive, physics) To supply with a moderator (substance that decreases the speed of neutrons in a nuclear reactor and hence increases likelihood of fission). “a graphite-moderated reactor”
Synonyms
middle-of-the-road measured mellow middle of the road mild nonexcessive nonextreme nonfanatic proper reasonable reasonous sober temperate tempered unexcessive unextreme accoy mitigate soften temper centrist middle of the roader moderationist chair lead control hold in hold contain check
Antonyms
Etymology
From Middle English moderat(e) (“moderate, temperate”), borrowed from Latin moderātus, perfect active participle of moderor (“to regulate, to restrain, to moderate”) (see -ate (adjective-forming suffix)), from moder-, modes-, a stem appearing also in modestus (“moderate, discreet, modest”), from modus (“a measure”); see mode and modest. Doublet of moderato. Displaced native Old English ġemetlīċ (“moderate”) and metegian (“to moderate”). Cognate with French modéré.
From a substantivization of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
From Middle English moderaten (“to restrain, curb; (law) modify”), from moderat(e) + -en (verb-forming suffix), borrowed from Latin moderātus, see -ate (verb-forming suffix) and Etymology 1 for more.
Webster’s 1913
- adjective Kept within due bounds; observing reasonable limits; not excessive, extreme, violent, or rigorous; limited; restrained; as: (a) Limited in quantity; sparing; temperate; frugal; as, moderate in eating or drinking; a moderate table.
- noun One of a party in the Church of Scotland in the 18th century, and part of the 19th, professing moderation in matters of church government, in discipline, and in doctrine.
- verb To restrain from excess of any kind; to reduce from a state of violence, intensity, or excess; to keep within bounds; to make temperate; to lessen; to allay; to repress; to temper; to qualify; as, to moderate rage, action, desires, etc.; to moderate heat or wind.
- verb To preside over, direct, or regulate, as a public meeting; as, to moderate a synod.
Etymology [L. moderatus, p.p. of moderate, moderati, to moderate, regulate, control, fr. modus measure. See Mode.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “moderate”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details