Dictionary Definition
moderate adj
1 being within reasonable or average limits; not
excessive or extreme; "moderate prices"; "a moderate income"; "a
moderate fine"; "moderate demands"; "a moderate estimate"; "a
moderate eater"; "moderate success"; "a kitchen of moderate size";
"the X-ray showed moderate enlargement of the heart" [ant: immoderate]
2 not extreme; "a moderate penalty"; "temperate
in his response to criticism" [syn: temperate]
3 marked by avoidance of extravagance or
extremes; "moderate in his demands"; "restrained in his response"
[syn: restrained] n :
a person who takes a position in the political center [syn:
centrist, middle
of the roader, moderationist]
Verb
2 make less fast or intense; "moderate your
speed"
3 lessen the intensity of; temper; hold in
restraint; hold or keep within limits; "moderate your alcohol
intake"; "hold your tongue"; "hold your temper"; "control your
anger" [syn: control,
hold in,
hold, contain, check, curb]
4 make less severe or harsh; "He moderated his
tone when the students burst out in tears" [syn: mince, soften]
5 make less strong or intense; soften; "Tone down
that aggressive letter"; "The author finally tamed some of his
potentially offensive statements" [syn: tone down,
tame]
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
Adjective
- Not excessive; acting in moderation
- Mediocre
- Having an intermediate position between liberal and conservative.
Translations
not excessive
- Dutch: gematigd
- Finnish: maltillinen, kohtuullinen, kohtalainen, vaatimaton
- French: modéré, modérée
- German: moderat
- Spanish: atentado, atentado
mediocre
- Finnish: keskinkertainen
having an intermediate position in politics
- Finnish: maltillinen
- German: moderat
Noun
- In the context of "politics": One who holds an intermediate position between the extremes relevant in the actual political situation.
Translations
one who holds an intermediate position in
politics
- Finnish: maltillinen
Verb
- To reduce the excessiveness of (something)
- To become less excessive
- To act as a moderator; to assist in bringing to compromise
Related terms
Translations
to reduce the excessiveness
- Finnish: tasoittaa, kohtuullistaa
to become less excessive
- Finnish: tasaantua, tasoittua
to act as a moderator
- Finnish: sovitella
- German: moderieren
References
Century 1911}}Italian
Verb
moderateExtensive Definition
In politics and religion, a moderate is an
individual who holds an intermediate position between two
viewpoints, neither to be extreme or radical by those applying the
term. The word "moderate" can also be used as an adjective describing such a
position.
Politics
In politics, a moderate is an individual who holds the middle position between those generally classified as being left-wing or liberal and those seen as right-wing or conservative. An alternate definition, and one widely held among swing voters, is that a moderate is one who has firm convictions on all issues, yet some convictions fall just to the left of the spectrum and some fall just to the right.Political moderates usually seek conciliation
between the views of various political
parties, and often take positions partially derived from
opposite views. For example, political moderates might not support
the end of private property in the way advocated
by Marxists, but they
also might not support laissez-faire
capitalism.
"Moderate" is by definition a relative term,
since the position considered moderate depends on the nature of the
two (or more) competing ideologies that the moderates are trying to
conciliate. As such, the moderates in one country often do not
share the views of moderates in other countries. Even within the
same country or community, the position considered "moderate"
changes over time. For example, in the Southern United States
during the first half of the 19th
century, supporting slavery was considered a
sensible and moderate view to hold. Today, in the same geographical
area, supporting slavery is considered dangerous and unacceptable
extremism.
In Sweden, Moderate
Party (Moderata samlingspartiet) is the name of the traditional
right-wing party. Thus the Swedish word "moderat" does not have the
same political meaning as the word moderate has in English,
although, from an international viewpoint, the basic meaning still
applies.
Religion
In religion, a moderate is someone who holds an intermediate position between the liberal religious or secularist view and the conservative, orthodox or fundamentalist view.Religious moderates tend to take a doctrinal
position that is not as strict as the orthodox or conservative
religious members, but not as open as the secularist or liberal members.
See also
moderate in Igbo: Moderate
moderate in Swedish: Moderat
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
K, Laodicean, abate, acceptable, accepting, act between,
adequate, adjust to,
admissible, all
right, allay, alleviate, alter, ambling, apathetic, arbitrate, arrest, assuage, attemper, average, backpedal, backwater, balanced, banal, bank the fire, bargain, better than nothing,
betwixt and between, bland, blunt, bound, box in, brake, budget, calm, cautious, center, central, centrist, chair, chasten, cheap, check, circumscribe, circumspect, claudicant, clement, clip the wings,
common, compassionate, compromiser, condition, confine, conservative, constant, constrain, contain, control, controlled, cool, coordinate, copyright, crawling, creeping, creeping like snail,
curb, cushion, damp, dampen, de-emphasize, deaden, decelerate, decent, decrease, defuse, delay, deliberate, detain, diminish, direct, discipline, discreet, downplay, draw rein, draw the
line, dull, ease, ease off, ease up, easy, easygoing, ebb, economic, economy, equable, even, extenuate, fair, fair to middling, fairish, fall, faltering, fifty-fifty,
flagging,
foot-dragging, forbearant, forbearing, forgiving, frugal, gentle, go between, good enough,
goodish, gradual, grave, half-and-half, halting, hedge, hedge about, hobbled, hobbling, hold back, hold in
check, hold up, humane,
idle, impartial, impede, inconsequential,
inconsiderable,
independent,
indifferent,
indolent, inexpensive, insipid, intercede, intermediary, intermediate, interpose, intervene, judge, judicious, keep back, keep
within bounds, lackluster, languid, languorous, lax, lay, lazy, leaven, leisurely, lenient, lenify, lessen, let down, let up, let up
on, lighten, limit, limping, lose ground, lose
momentum, lose speed, low,
low-priced, lumbering,
make terms, manage,
manageable, mean, measured, medial, median, mediate, mediocre, medium, meet halfway, merciful, middle, middle-of-the-road,
middle-of-the-roader, middling, midway, mild, mild as milk, mitigate, moderantist, moderationist, moderatist, modest, modify, modulate, mollify, namby-pamby, narrow, negotiate, neuter, neutral, nominal, nonaligned, noncommitted, nonpartisan, nonviolent, normal, not amiss, not bad, not
half bad, not so bad, obstruct, obtund, of a kind, of a sort, of
sorts, okay, on the fence,
ordinary, pacifistic, palliate, paltry, passable, passive, patent, patient, peaceable, peaceful, piddling, play down, poking, poky, presentable, preside over,
pretty good, prudent,
qualify, rational, reasonable, reduce, reduce the temperature,
reef, referee, register, regulate, regulate by, rein in,
relax, relaxed, relent, relieve, reluctant, remit, represent, respectable, restrain, restrained, restrict, retard, routine, run, satisfactory, sauntering, scant, season, sedate, sensible, serious, set back, set
conditions, set limits, shabby, shoddy, shuffling, slack, slack off, slack up,
slacken, slight, slothful, slow, slow as death, slow as
molasses, slow as slow, slow down, slow up, slow-crawling,
slow-foot, slow-going, slow-legged, slow-moving, slow-paced,
slow-poky, slow-running, slow-sailing, slow-stepped, sluggish, small, smother, snail-paced, snaillike, so-so, sober, sober down, sober-minded,
sobersided, soft, soft-shell, soften, solemn, soothe, sparing, specialize, staggering, staid, standard, stay, steady, step in, stifle, stint, stinting, straiten, strolling, subdue, subside, sufficient, supervise, suppress, take in sail,
tame, tedious, temper, temperate, tender, tentative, third-force,
third-world, throttle down, tidy, toddling, token, tolerable, tolerant, tone down, tortoiselike, tottering, treat with,
trifling, trivial, trudging, tune down, turtlelike, umpire, uncommitted, underplay, unexceptionable,
unexceptional,
unexcessive,
unexpensive,
unextreme, unhurried, unimpassioned, uninvolved, unobjectionable,
usual, vapid, waddling, wane, weaken, wishy-washy, within
means, workmanlike,
worth the money