decree
Americannoun
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a formal and authoritative order, especially one having the force of law.
a presidential decree.
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Law. a judicial decision or order.
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Theology. one of the eternal purposes of God, by which events are foreordained.
verb (used with or without object)
noun
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an edict, law, etc, made by someone in authority
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an order or judgment of a court made after hearing a suit, esp in matrimonial proceedings See decree nisi decree absolute
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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decreernoun
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predecreeverb (used with object)
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decreeableadjective
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undecreedadjective
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well-decreedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decreesimple
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decreessimple
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have decreedperfect
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has decreedperfect
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am decreeingprogressive
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are decreeingprogressive
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is decreeingprogressive
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have been decreeingperfect progressive
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has been decreeingperfect progressive
Past
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decreedsimple
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had decreedperfect
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was decreeingprogressive
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were decreeingprogressive
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had been decreeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decree
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English decre < Anglo-French decre, decret < Latin dēcrētum, noun use of neuter of dēcrētus, past participle of dēcernere; see decern; (v.) Middle English decreen, derivative of the noun
Explanation
Look carefully! A decree isn't something you get when you graduate. That one little letter change makes it something else altogether: a legally binding command or the announcement of such a thing. If you go back far enough, a decree referred to a decision handed down by the Roman emperor. In more modern usage, a divorce decree is the document issued by a court that terminates a marriage. And if you want to go out with someone on a date, but things keep preventing you from having the chance to ask, you could say that fate did not decree it to be so.
Vocabulary lists containing decree
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Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
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Animal Farm
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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:
"For me, justice is the decree that these people intentionally, deliberately did what they did. I want them to be punished by law."
From BBC ● Jul. 6, 2026
They are seeking an amendment to a government decree which, since 2021, has required foreign video streaming platforms to finance French audiovisual production and cinema with a slice of their revenue.
From Barron's ● Jul. 6, 2026
Vegetarian food is served cafeteria style and in practice if not by decree, eaten slowly, putting down the fork between bites.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 23, 2026
Did Gordon Granger, an otherwise obscure Union Army general, really stroll into Galveston and read a decree from President Abraham Lincoln declaring, to a sea of onlookers, that all enslaved people were now officially free?
From Salon ● Jun. 19, 2026
He had promised her repeatedly that he would marry her once the decree was confirmed, but now he found the prospect repulsive.
From "The Devil in the White City" by Erik Larson
But consent decrees are legally and politically complicated, and the treatment of migrant children further tangles the situation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
Since then, French President Emmanuel Macron has endorsed the symbolic repeal of royal decrees that governed slavery in French colonies.
From Barron's ● Jun. 18, 2026
This stems from laïcité, the French brand of secularism which decrees the state and public institutions should be free of religion.
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
Many “return to office” mandates and expectations started as decrees from C-suite executives, after the pandemic broadened the appeal of working from home.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 1, 2026
"Cus-tom decrees that the khaleesi must ride a mount worthy of her place by the side of the khal."
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
Tina Peters deserved to go to jail but not for nine years, a panel of judges decreed, ordering her resentencing.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 24, 2026
The reality, however, is that international football's governing bodies have decreed the game must go ahead, whether anyone likes it or not.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
Interim president Delcy Rodriguez, a staunch defender of Maduro who took over after his ouster, decreed seven days of mourning for those killed in the January 3 attack.
From Barron's ● Jan. 16, 2026
And as China expands into high-end manufacturing such as aircraft and semiconductors, Xi has decreed it must not relinquish low-end production such as toys and clothes.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 6, 2025
In this place, the crones of the dosh khaleen had decreed, all Dothraki were one blood, one khalasai, one herd.
From "A Game of Thrones" by George R.R. Martin
It is roughly analogous to a disgruntled DMV employee refusing to process your driver’s license renewal paperwork, and also unilaterally decreeing that you were never allowed to operate a motor vehicle in the first place.
From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2023
Initially, the state Catholic Conference also didn’t back this latest referendum, decreeing in June that church parishes couldn’t be used for signature gathering.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 26, 2023
Any papal document would likely take the form of an Apostolic Constitution decreeing changes in Church law.
From Reuters ● Aug. 22, 2022
Women’s advocates, largely supported by religious scholars, have always maintained there’s nothing in the Quran decreeing a covering as restrictive as the burqa.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2021
Nothing could be more straightforward—except we never talk about finding, making or decreeing facts; instead, we ‘establish facts’.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
Definitions 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.
