moderate
adjective /ˈmɒd(ə)rət 
/
/1Average in amount, intensity, quality, or degree: we walked at a moderate pace...
- Some of these second-wave acts achieved a moderate degree of success and most were assured at least of a long career on the standup circuit.
- They basically got away with what they could at the time (which wasn't much) and found a moderate amount of success.
- The fourth is that they exercise not a bit but a lot - ie they have about 60-90 minutes of moderate intensity exercise every day.
Synonyms
average, modest, medium, middling, ordinary, common, commonplace, everyday, workaday;
tolerable, passable, adequate, fair, decent;
mediocre, indifferent, uninspired, undistinguished, unexceptional, unexciting, unremarkable, run-of-the-mill, lacklustre, forgettable, inferior, second-rate
informal OK, so-so, bog-standard, fair-to-middling, (plain) vanilla, nothing to write home about, no great shakes, not so hot, not up to much
New Zealand informal half-pie
reasonable, within reason, acceptable, non-excessive, within due limits;
inexpensive, low, cheap, bargain-basement, fair, modest;
abstemious, temperate, restrained
restrained, controlled, temperate, sober, steady, regular, not given to excesses;
easy, even, mild, tolerant, lenient
1.1(Of a person, party, or policy) not radical or excessively right- or left-wing: a moderate reform programme...
- Australia has a new and rising political party with moderate policies which is headed by a black woman.
- Throughout the process, those loyal to its moderate policies fought for the survival of their party.
- Its front bench has a younger profile, and with its policies not very far from those of the current government, it will find little ideological problems with the moderate policies now favoured by Labour.
Synonyms
dispassionate, non-extreme, middle-of-the-road, non-radical, non-reactionary, open to reason, equitable, impartial
noun /ˈmɒd(ə)rət /
/A person who holds moderate views, especially in politics: an unlikely alliance of radicals and moderates...
- His greatest concern was that the Republicans would prove so reactionary that they would transform Democratic moderates and liberals into radicals and extremists.
- Given the nature of the Greens and their issues, they typically demonstrate the best potential for harvesting votes in the districts already held by liberal Democrats or conscientious moderates.
- Liberals and moderates in the Democratic Party have a lot to learn from each other.
verb /ˈmɒdəreɪt /
/1Make or become less extreme, intense, rigorous, or violent: [with object]: I shall not moderate my criticism [no object]: the weather has moderated considerably...
- Most notably, the Pueblo Indians in the Southwest used adobe masonry to moderate weather extremes and keep their homes comfortable.
- Our strategy was to use thermal mass to moderate temperature extremes.
- Since Anchorage is located at the end of a long inlet, the yearly temperatures, moderated by the influence of ocean currents, are considerably milder than in the interior of Alaska.
Synonyms
die down, abate, let up, calm down, lessen, grow less, decrease, diminish, slacken;
ebb, recede, dwindle, weaken, subside
curb, control, check, keep in check, keep under control, hold in, temper, regulate, restrain, restrict, subdue;
still, damp, repress, tame, break, lessen, deaden, decrease, lower, reduce, diminish, remit, mitigate, alleviate, allay, appease, assuage, ease, palliate, soothe, soften, calm, modulate, pacify, mellow, mince, tone down
2 [with object] British Review (examination papers, results, or candidates) in relation to an agreed standard so as to ensure consistency of marking: the dependability of an examining system rests on those who set, moderate, and mark the papers
3 [with object] (In academic and ecclesiastical contexts) preside over (a deliberative body) or at (a debate): a panel moderated by a Harvard University law professor...
- I received many similar responses after I moderated the vice presidential debates in 2004.
- Now for our next week's e-mail question of the week - if you were moderating the presidential debates, what would you like to ask each candidate?
- Because you write in the book, about the time I moderated the South Carolina debate with your son, and how you could not watch.
Synonyms
chair, take the chair of, preside over;
arbitrate, mediate, referee, judge
3.1 [no object] (Especially in the Presbyterian Church in Scotland) act as a moderator; preside: it is the Presbytery that moderates...
- He tried to moderate, but seemed a bit distracted, quoting interviews more than asking questions.
- The position of interviewer is the one with the authority to moderate, the emcee of the event.
4Monitor (an Internet forum or online discussion) for inappropriate or offensive content.In addition, the association's executive director moderated an Internet chatroom for children....
- To moderate a newsgroup you have to get involved several times a day, or it becomes too impractical to have conversations.
- All they are doing is forcing users to go elsewhere, potentially to non moderated chat rooms with little or no protection.
5 [with object] Physics Retard (neutrons) with a moderator: the neutrons causing fission are not moderated but react at high energies...
- Dysprosium alloys are also used in control rods used to moderate the flow of neutrons through a nuclear reactor.
- The detection of hydrogen is based both on the intensity of gamma rays emitted by hydrogen, and by the intensity of neutrons that are moderated by hydrogen.
- It is then extracted from the ring and smashed into a mercury target to produce neutron beams that can be moderated and guided into designated experimental stations.
Derivatives
moderateness
- A large part of his credibility comes from his seeming moderateness in form and presentation.
- The party had cultivated an image of moderateness, and had been unwilling or unable to have an effective negative element to its campaign.
- The arc of this group's path in America has been one from zealousness to bland, corporate moderateness.
moderatism
- It's an incredibly humane, kind film, and it reminds you that being humane and kind will always lead to radicalism, never to moderatism.
- On the Political spectrum scale, that intentionally skews towards moderatism, I scored 9 out of 10 in fiscal freedom and 7 out of 10 in social freedom.
- Yet, by that time the Revolution had taken a different path and the forces of ‘moderatism’ became too strong.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin moderat- 'reduced, controlled', from the verb moderare; related to modest.