moderate

• POS: Adjective, Noun, Verb (usu participle)
• HYPHEN: mod=er=ate

CIDE DICTIONARY

moderate, a. [L. moderatus, p. p. of moderate, moderati, to moderate, regulate, control, fr. modus measure. See Mode.].

 Kept within due bounds; observing reasonable limits; not excessive, extreme, violent, or rigorous; limited; restrained  [1913 Webster]
"A number of moderate members managed . . . to obtain a majority in a thin house."  [1913 Webster]

moderate, n. 

 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.  [1913 Webster]

moderate, v. t. 

•  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.  [1913 Webster]

  "By its astringent quality, it moderates the relaxing quality of warm water."  [1913 Webster]

  "To moderate stiff minds disposed to strive."  [1913 Webster]
•  To preside over, direct, or regulate, as a public meeting or a discussion; as, to moderate a synod; to moderate a debate.  [1913 Webster]

moderate, v. i. 

•  To become less violent, severe, rigorous, or intense; as, the wind has moderated.  [1913 Webster]
•  To preside as a moderator.  [1913 Webster]

  "Dr. Barlow [was] engaged . . . to moderate for him in the divinity disputation."  [1913 Webster]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

moderate, adj., n., & v.
--adj.
1 avoiding extremes; temperate in conduct or expression.
2 fairly or tolerably large or good.
3 (of the wind) of medium strength.
4 (of prices) fairly low.
--n. a person who holds moderate views, esp. in politics.
--v.
1 tr. & intr. make or become less violent, intense, rigorous, etc.
2 tr. (also absol.) act as a moderator of or to.
3 tr. Physics retard (neutrons) with a moderator.

Derivative

moderately adv. moderateness n. moderatism n.

Etymology

ME f. L moderatus past part. of moderare reduce, control: rel. to MODEST

THESAURUS

moderate

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

ROGET THESAURUS

moderate

Sufficiency

VB be sufficient, suffice, do, just do, satisfy, pass muster, have enough, eat, one's fill, drink one's fill, have one's fill, roll in, swim in, wallow in, wanton, abound, exuberate, teem, flow, stream, rain, shower down, pour, pour in, swarm, bristle with, superabound, render sufficient, replenish, Adj, sufficient, enough, adequate, up to the mark, commensurate, competent, satisfactory, valid, tangible, measured, moderate, full, ample, plenty, plentiful, plenteous, plenty as blackberries, copious, abundant, abounding, replete, enough and to spare, flush, choke-full, chock-full, well-stocked, well- provided, liberal, unstinted, unstinting, stintless, without stint, unsparing, unmeasured, lavish, wholesale, rich, luxuriant, affluent, wantless, big with, unexhausted, unwasted, exhaustless, inexhaustible, Adv, sufficiently, amply.

N sufficiency, adequacy, enough, withal, satisfaction, competence, no less, quantum sufficit, Q, S, mediocrity, fill, fullness, plenitude, plenty, abundance, copiousness, amplitude, galore, lots, profusion, full measure, good measure pressed down and running, over, luxuriance, affluence, fat of the land, a land flowing with milk and honey, cornucopia, horn of plenty, horn of Amalthaea, mine, outpouring, flood, tide, repletion, satiety, sufficient, enough, adequate, up to the mark, commensurate, competent, satisfactory, valid, tangible, measured, moderate, full, ample, plenty, plentiful, plenteous, plenty as blackberries, copious, abundant, abounding, replete, enough and to spare, flush, choke-full, chock-full, well-stocked, well- provided, liberal, unstinted, unstinting, stintless, without stint, unsparing, unmeasured, lavish, wholesale, rich, luxuriant, affluent, wantless, big with, unexhausted, unwasted, exhaustless, inexhaustible, sufficiently, amply Adj, full, in abundance, with no sparing hand, to one's heart's content, ad libitum, without stint, cut and come again, das Beste ist gut genug.

Smallness

N smallness, littleness, tenuity, paucity, fewness, meanness, insignificance (unimportance), mediocrity, moderation, small quantity, modicum, trace, hint, minimum, vanishing point, material point, atom, particle, molecule, corpuscle, point, speck, dot, mote, jot, iota, ace, minutiae, details, look, thought, idea, soupcon, dab, dight, whit, tittle, shade, shadow, spark, scintilla, gleam, touch, cast, grain, scruple, granule, globule, minim, sup, sip, sop, spice, drop, droplet, sprinkling, dash, morceau, screed, smack, tinge, tincture, inch, patch, scantling, tatter, cantlet, flitter, gobbet, mite, bit, morsel, crumb, seed, fritter, shive, snip, snippet, snick, snack, snatch, slip, scrag, chip, chipping, shiver, sliver, driblet, clipping, paring, shaving, hair, nutshell, thimbleful, spoonful, handful, capful, mouthful, fragment, fraction, drop in the ocean, animalcule, trifle, mere nothing, next to nothing, hardly anything, just enough to swear by, the shadow of a shade, finiteness, finite quantity, small, little, diminutive, minute, fine, inconsiderable, paltry, faint, slender, light, slight, scanty, scant, limited, meager, sparing, few, low, so-so, middling, tolerable, no great shakes, below par, under par, below the mark, at a low ebb, halfway, moderate, modest, tender, subtle, inappreciable, evanescent, infinitesimal, homeopathic, very small, atomic, corpuscular, microscopic, molecular, subatomic, mere, simple, sheer, stark, bare, near run, dull, petty, shallow, stolid, ungifted, unintelligent, to a small extent, on a small scale, a little bit, a wee bit, slightly, imperceptibly, miserably, wretchedly, insufficiently, imperfectly, faintly, passably, pretty well, well enough, partially, in part, in a certain degree, to a certain degree, to a certain extent, comparatively, some, rather in some degree, in some measure, something, somewhat, simply, only, purely, merely, at least, at the least, at most, at the most, ever so little, as little as may be, tant soit peu, in ever so small a degree, thus far, pro tanto, within bounds, in a manner, after a fashion, so to speak, almost, nearly, well-nigh, short of, not quite, all but, near upon, close upon, peu s'en faut, near the mark, within an ace of, within an inch of, on the brink of, scarcely, hardly, barely, only just, no more than, about, thereabouts, somewhere about, nearly, say, be the same, be little more or less, no ways, no way, no wise, not at all, not in the least, not a bit, not a bit of it, not a whit, not a jot, not a shadow, in no wise, in no respect, by no means, by no manner of means, on no account, at no hand, dare pondus idonea fumo, magno conatu magnas nugas, small sands the mountain, moments make the year.

Cheapness

N cheapness, low price, depreciation, bargain, good penny worth, snap, gratuity, free quarters, free seats, free admission, pass, free pass, free warren, give-away, freebee, run of one's teeth, nominal price, peppercorn rent, labor of love, drug in the market, deadhead, cheap, low, low priced, moderate, reasonable, inexpensive, unexpensive, well worth the money, worth the money, magnifique et pas cher, good at the price, cheap at the price, dirt cheap, dog cheap, cheap, cheap as dirt, cheap and nasty, catchpenny, discounted, half-price, depreciated, unsalable, gratuitous, gratis, free, for nothing, costless, expenseless, without charge, not charged, untaxed, scotfree, shotfree, rent-free, free of cost, free of expense, honorary, unbought, unpaid, for a mere song, for a song, at cost, at cost price, at prime cost, at a reduction, a bon marche.

Moderation

VB be moderate, keep within bounds, keep within compass, sober down, settle down, keep the peace, remit, relent, take in sail, moderate, soften, mitigate, temper, accoy, attemper, contemper, mollify, lenify, dulcify, dull, take off the edge, blunt, obtund, sheathe, subdue, chasten, sober down, tone down, smooth down, weaken, lessen, check palliate, tranquilize, pacify, assuage, appease, swag, lull, soothe, compose, still, calm, calm down, cool, quiet, hush, quell, sober, pacify, tame, damp, lay, allay, rebate, slacken, smooth, alleviate, rock to sleep, deaden, smooth, throw cold water on, throw a wet blanket over, turn off, slake, curb, tame, smooth over, pour oil on the waves, pour oil on the troubled waters, pour balm into, mattre de l'eau dans son vin, go out like a lamb, roar you as gently as any sucking dove.

N moderation, lenity, temperateness, gentleness, sobriety, quiet, mental calmness, moderating, anaphrodisia, relaxation, remission, mitigation, tranquilization, assuagement, contemporation, pacification, measure, juste milieu, golden mean, ariston metron, moderator, lullaby, sedative, lenitive, demulcent, antispasmodic, carminative, laudanum, rose water, balm, poppy, opiate, anodyne, milk, opium, poppy or mandragora, wet blanket, palliative, moderate, lenient, gentle, mild, mellow, cool, sober, temperate, reasonable, measured, tempered, calm, unruffled, quiet, tranquil, still, slow, smooth, untroubled, tame, peaceful, peaceable, pacific, halcyon, unexciting, unirritating, soft, bland, oily, demulcent, lenitive, anodyne, hypnotic, sedative, antiorgastic, anaphrodisiac, mild as mother's milk, milk and water, moderately, gingerly, piano, under easy sail, at half speed, within bounds, within compass, in reason, est modue in rebus, pour oil on troubled waters.

Slowness

VB move slowly, creep, crawl, lag, slug, drawl, linger, loiter, saunter, plod, trudge, stump along, lumber, trail, drag, dawdle, grovel, worm one's way, steal along, job on, rub on, bundle on, toddle, waddle, wabble, slug, traipse, slouch, shuffle, halt, hobble, limp, caludicate, shamble, flag, falter, trotter, stagger, mince, step short, march in slow time, march in funeral procession, take one's time, hang fire, retard, relax, slacken, check, moderate, rein in, curb, reef, strike sail, shorten sail, take in sail, put on the drag, apply the brake, clip the wings, reduce the speed, slacken speed, slacken one's pace, lose ground.

Temperance

N temperance, moderation, sobriety, soberness, forbearance, abnegation, self-denial, self-restraint, self-control, frugality, vegetarianism, teetotalism, total abstinence, abstinence, abstemiousness, Encratism, prohibition, system of Pythagoras, system of Cornaro, Pythagorism, Stoicism, vegetarian, Pythagorean, gymnosophist, teetotaler, abstainer, designated driver, Encratite, fruitarian, hydropot, temperate, moderate, sober, frugal, sparing, abstemious, abstinent, within compass, measured, on the wagon, on the water wagon, dry, Pythagorean, vegetarian, teetotal, appetitus rationi obediant, l'abstenir pour jouir c'est l'epicurisme de la rai, trahit sua quemque voluptas.

Qualification

VB qualify, limit, modify, leaven, give a color to, introduce new conditions, narrow, temper, waffle, quibble, hem and haw (be uncertain), equivocate (sophistry), depend, depend on, be contingent on (effect), allow for, make allowance for, admit exceptions, take into account, modulate, moderate, temper, season, leaven, take exception.