The most common and most likely answer to this crossword clue is the 9 letter word DOWNGRADE
I've seen this crossword clue in Financial Times
D
O
W
N
G
R
A
D
E
More clues leading to the result DOWNGRADE
- Out of action, sort lower in rank
- Demote fraudulent dog warden
- Lower feathers got darker, so some picked up
- Move from A to B and awkwardly drag blue English cases
- Reduce status of dog warden?
- Relegate dog warden, perhaps
- To demote one from cryptic wording
- Belittle sad member of broadcasting family?
- Belittle depressed class? Dead wrong! Improper!
- Sell short sad standard
Buddy explains!
The straight part
We know that "Lower" is the straight/definition part of the clue. The straight part is often a synonym or definition, in this case lower = downgrade.The cryptic/wordplay part
In cryptic crossword there's often an wordplay/cryptic part as well.This part involves a more complex hint, such as an anagram, homophone, hidden word, etc.
Sadly, We don't have an explanation for this specific crossword clue yet.
What does DOWNGRADE mean?
DOWNGRADE noun- A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.
- A downhill gradient on a road or railway.
- To place lower in position.
- To 'dumb down', reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts.
- To disparage.
- To reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
- To revert software back to an older version.