Which one of the following adjectives is the right one to describe someone who has just stepped down as a manager?
- "Resigned manager"
- "Stepped-down manager"
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1Any wording that forces you to reread it 3 times needs improvement. In this case, ex-manager is okay, but that manager who ... is just right.– Yosef BaskinSep 12 at 23:00
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2Resigned as an adjective has a very different meaning. Stepped down as an adjective suggests either a lowered voltage or a garden feature.– PeterSep 13 at 1:56
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I know how someone can be resigned to some action or fate, but how do you step them down?– tchrist ♦Sep 13 at 3:04
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1 Answer
Neither resigned nor stepped-down is an adjective. And neither is used attributively (before a noun phrase being modified). As to choosing between
the manager who resigned
and
the manager who stepped down,
the choice depends on context and precise meaning. Resign means leave an organization’s employment altogether, whereas step down can mean that, but can also mean leave one position in favor of another one, typically of lower rank.
If one doesn’t choose to make that distinction, then, as @Yosef Baskin has commented, ex-manager is fine.
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2“Former manager” also works. Or you can use something like “X, until recently the manager of . . . “– XanneSep 13 at 2:11
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2Although this is a bit nitpicking, a senior manager who has 'stepped down' to be a junior manager is neither a former manager nor an ex manager. Sep 13 at 2:49
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'Resigned' is an adjective, but often not with the sense needed here. And it can be used in combination prenominally with the required sense: ... the recently resigned Director-General of RTÉ, Dee Forbes ...'. The 'Eleven-year-old boy Rule', as mentioned by J Lawler. Sep 13 at 9:53