decision
Americannoun
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decisions
plural
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the act or process of deciding; determination, as of a question or doubt, by making a judgment.
They must make a decision between these two contestants.
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the act of or need for making up one's mind.
This is a difficult decision.
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something that is decided; resolution.
She made a poor decision when she dropped out of school.
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a judgment, as one formally pronounced by a court.
It is the decision of this court that the appeal is granted.
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the quality of being decided; firmness.
He spoke with decision and calm authority.
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the final score in any sport or contest.
The decision was 5 to 4 in favor of the home team.
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Boxing. the awarding of a victory in a match not decided by a knockout or technical knockout, usually through a vote of the referee and judges.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a judgment, conclusion, or resolution reached or given; verdict
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the act of making up one's mind
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firmness of purpose or character; determination
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of decision
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English decisioun, from Middle French, from Latin dēcīsiōn-, stem of dēcīsiō “a cutting off,” equivalent to dēcīs(us) (past participle of dēcīdere “to cut off”; see decide) + -iō -ion
Explanation
To make a decision is to make up your mind about something. To act with decision is to proceed with determination, which might be a natural character trait. Decision originally comes from the Latin decidere ("determine"). You make decisions every day: what to wear, what to eat, how to spend your money, who to vote for, what movie to go to. A court judge makes a decision in a trial (and actually "hands down" or "announces" that decision). If judges make the decision in a boxing match, the winner wins "by decision." More loosely, decision can also refer to the outcome of any game or contest.
Vocabulary lists containing decision
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ion, -tion, -ation
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President Obama's second inaugural address
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
A Weil spokesman said late Tuesday, “No decision has been made to dissolve the firm.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
It partially reversed the decision days later, keeping existing VR experiences running, but it highlighted how the company thought about its previous big bet on VR experiences.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Despite this, Navarro has been active in Yerevan promoting Panama's hosting bid as a decision looms, eagerly shaking hands and passing around business cards made of biodegradable pulp.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
In her previous outing, Serrano edged a majority decision victory over Argentina's Lucrecia Manzur to claim her 50th professional win.
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
And with Jakob’s terrible transformation, I’ve made another decision.
From "The Bletchley Riddle" by Ruta Sepetys and Steve Sheinkin
She still tells people she worked at Facebook, rather than Meta, partly because she’s disagreed with some of Zuckerberg’s decisions since she left the company.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
Navarro said that Panama wants to reform the consensus-based rules that allow "one idiot" to block agreement at the COP summits, proposing instead that decisions are taken by a majority.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
Of course, bad decisions have to happen, or nothing will go wrong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
As arrests soared, Taylor worked to place the district attorney’s decisions under unprecedented scrutiny, saying he wanted to ensure that the prosecution of task force cases was as aggressive as the task force itself.
From Salon ● Oct. 28, 2026
“We won’t make any decisions until you get back from your trip,” Ma said with a supplicating note to her words.
From "The Red Car to Hollywood" by Jennie Liu
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
