Word-Difference – Difference Between ‘Reduce’ and ‘Lower’

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I am not sure if I am mistaken, but it seems that reduce and lower aren't synonymous. For example, one of the sentences sounds incorrect in the following examples:

The government reduced the legal age for alcohol consumption by one.

The government lowered the legal age for alcohol consumption by one.

I am not sure if I am wrong, but "reducing the legal age" sounds odd to me.

Best Answer

The government reduced the legal age for alcohol consumption by one.

In this sentence 'reduce' emphasis the age decrease in number. Even though we are talking about age a number, it is more of attribute than a just quantity here.

The government lowered the legal age for alcohol consumption by one.

But here 'lowered' describes the standard/status of the person as the attribute which is the main empathize of the sentence in words.

"Government has lowered the standard for this".