decline

American  

[dih-klahyn] / dɪˈklaɪn /

verb (used with object)

• declines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• declined,
  past participle,  past
• declining
  present participle

1. to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse.

   He declined to say more about it.

   Synonyms:

   reject

2. to express inability or reluctance to accept; refuse with courtesy.

   to decline an invitation; to decline an offer.

3. to cause to slope or incline downward.

4. Grammar.

   1. to inflect (a noun, pronoun, or adjective), as Latin puella, declined puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puella in the five cases of the singular.

   2. to recite or display all or some subset of the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun, or adjective in a fixed order.

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verb (used without object)

• declines,
  present (3rd person singular)
• declined,
  past participle,  past
• declining
  present participle

1. to express courteous refusal; refuse.

   We sent him an invitation but he declined.

2. to bend or slant down; slope downward; descend.

   The hill declines to the lake.

   Antonyms:

   rise

3. (of pathways, routes, objects, etc.) to follow a downward course or path.

   The sun declined in the skies.

4. to draw toward the close, as the day.

5. to fail in strength, vigor, character, value, etc.; deteriorate.

   Synonyms:

   languish, diminish, weaken, decay, degenerate

   Antonyms:

   improve

6. to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away.

   to decline in popularity.

7. to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.

8. Grammar. to be characterized by declension.

noun

• declines
  plural

1. a downward slope; declivity.

   Synonyms:

   hill

2. a downward movement, as of prices or population; diminution.

   a decline in the stock market.

3. a failing or gradual loss, as in strength, character, power, or value; deterioration.

   the decline of the Roman Empire.

   Synonyms:

   enfeeblement, degeneration, retrogression

4. a gradual deterioration of the physical powers, as in later life or in disease.

   After his seventieth birthday he went into a decline.

5. progress downward or toward the close, as of the sun or the day.

6. the later years or last part.

   He became an editor in the decline of his life.

decline British  

/ dɪˈklaɪn /

verb

1. to refuse to do or accept (something), esp politely

2. (intr) to grow smaller; diminish

   demand has declined over the years

3. to slope or cause to slope downwards

4. (intr) to deteriorate gradually, as in quality, health, or character

5. grammar to state or list the inflections of (a noun, adjective, or pronoun), or (of a noun, adjective, or pronoun) to be inflected for number, case, or gender Compare conjugate

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noun

1. gradual deterioration or loss

2. a movement downwards or towards something smaller; diminution

3. a downward slope; declivity

4. archaic any slowly progressive disease, such as tuberculosis

Synonym Usage

See refuse ¹.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• decliner
  noun
• redecline
  verb
• predecline
  verb (used with object)
• declinable
  adjective
• undeclined
  adjective
• undeclining
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• declines
  plural

Participles

• declining
  present
• declined
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• decline
  simple
• declines
  simple
• have declined
  perfect
• has declined
  perfect
• am declining
  progressive
• are declining
  progressive
• is declining
  progressive
• have been declining
  perfect progressive
• has been declining
  perfect progressive

Past

• declined
  simple
• had declined
  perfect
• was declining
  progressive
• were declining
  progressive
• had been declining
  perfect progressive

Future

• will decline
  simple
• will have declined
  perfect
• will be declining
  progressive
• will have been declining
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of decline

First recorded in 1275–1325; (verb) Middle English declinen, from Old French: “to inflect, turn aside, sink,” from Latin dēclīnāre “to slope, incline, bend”; compare Greek klī́nein “to lean” ( see lean ¹); (noun) Middle English declin, from Old French, derivative of decliner

Explanation

When something declines, it goes downhill. If you stop working out, your health may decline. If you want it to improve, you should start climbing inclines instead of coasting down declines. The verb decline means refuse to accept, but the noun decline means a downward slope (the opposite of an incline), or a decrease in quality. At the gym, the treadmill has an incline button to control how steep your climb is. Sadly, there's no button for decline, which would be much easier. Both words contain cline, or "to bend." The prefix tells you which way the bend goes. Decline implies a going, or turning, down.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

decline declines declined declining

“At no point did President Haines decline a conversation with Mr. Smith or rule out a future public conversation.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

Situational had discussed a “crash put” program inspired by Jane Street’s similar program meant to protect against a violent market decline, one person briefed on the program said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

Cassidy noted that immunity can decline during pregnancy, making community vaccination particularly important for protecting pregnant women.

From Salon ● Aug. 16, 2026

Physical activity was particularly associated with slower cognitive decline among Hispanic participants, while lower fasting blood glucose levels were linked to slower cognitive decline among non-Hispanic white participants.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 16, 2026

Commentators always have a familiar cast of characters to which they can point to explain any rally or any decline.

From "Innumeracy: Mathematical Illiteracy and Its Consequences" by John Allen Paulos

But he says its important people know this conservation work is happening, with declines in some sea bird populations.

From BBC ● Aug. 15, 2026

Women who used the therapy were also less likely to show memory problems or declines in their ability to carry out everyday functions.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 14, 2026

Lower energy prices played a big role in these declines, but prices were also more muted for other wholesale goods.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 13, 2026

He thinks volume declines could be less severe than Seek assumes.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 12, 2026

And Mrs. Baransky is laughing her easygoing laugh as she politely declines his offer of chocolate coins, then turns to our mother with a reassuring smile.

From "The Sea in Winter" by Christine Day

He said he invited Haines to discuss the award on the air but she declined, saying she would prefer a private conversation off the air.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 18, 2026

The quarterly delivery volumes from Uber Eats declined for the first time since 2022, prompting the company to reduce its expected 2026 revenue guidance from $26 million to $9 million to $10 million.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

The court's decision was posted as part of an order list on Monday, but offered no explanation for why the justices declined to rehear the case.

From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026

A spokeswoman for Mangione’s legal team declined to comment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

And yet persons here and there declined to migrate; that, even to those involved, constituted a perplexing irrationality.

From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick

Child-care nonprofits are taking advantage of declining enrollment at TK-12 schools to turn vacant classrooms and even closed campuses into child-care hubs, expanding scarce infant and toddler slots.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 17, 2026

According to preliminary data, there were 864 advancing issues and 1,888 declining issues on the NYSE.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026

We’re all sitting at home sipping adaptogenic mushroom tonics, journaling our feelings and politely declining invitations to any event after 7 p.m. because we’d rather optimize our sleep scores than take a tequila shot.

From Salon ● Aug. 15, 2026

But there’s a silver lining to declining or flat home values: His property taxes have gone down by $1,000 per year.

From MarketWatch ● Aug. 15, 2026

So little is known of Norwood that it may in fact be that he deserved his unhappy declining years.

From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson

Related Words

• decrease
• depreciate
• deteriorate
• diminish
• drop
• dwindle
• fail
• fall
• lower
• recede
• return
• sag
• shrink
• sink
• slide
• wane
• weaken
• worsen