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.

---

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

---

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

That raises the possibility that medications acting on the same pathway might eventually be repurposed to address oligodendrocyte dysfunction and age-related cognitive decline.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

An IMF report released this week projected that a decline in AI investment could reduce global GDP by 0.4 percent by 2028.

From Barron's ● Oct. 17, 2026

Gold has seen a smaller decline from record highs, but it’s more of a precious metal — 90% monetary and 10% commodity, he said.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 17, 2026

Lane added that another factor in the decline in the number of captive birds is the increased difficulties in transporting birds since Brexit.

From BBC ● Oct. 17, 2026

The Royal Society, after years of decline, in which it was short of funds and performing few experiments, was showing signs of a new enthusiasm for experimental science, but Papin did not benefit.

From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton

Men can contribute to babies well into their 80s—yes, sperm quality declines but not that much—while the ability to get pregnant is pretty much capped at age 45.

From Slate ● Oct. 16, 2026

U.S. stocks were lower, with the Nasdaq bearing the brunt of the declines, as a hotter-than-expected September inflation report put a dampener on the mood in markets .

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Most markets experienced either small declines or small increases.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

D-Wave, Quantinuum, and Rigetti Computing also saw substantial declines.

From Barron's ● Oct. 14, 2026

Both declines have been laid to drought, but this is contested.

From "1491" by Charles C. Mann

Importantly, these abnormalities were associated with how quickly cognitive abilities declined, rather than how well someone performed on cognitive tests at a particular age.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

Still, her occupancy rate has declined to about 60% from over 80% and she brings in half the income she did with short-term rentals.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 17, 2026

“I’ll be recruiting,” he interjected with a smile, as Skubal declined to comment on free agency, saying it was too soon to try to predict what the future would hold for him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

Meta, Snap, TikTok, X and Google, which owns YouTube, have all declined BBC requests for comment, and have not made public statements about the legislation.

From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2026

Hale declined again and was led away by authorities.

From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann

The researchers linked this rise to declining rainfall and warmer temperatures, which create conditions that make it easier for methane to enter the soil and be broken down by microorganisms.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 17, 2026

The trend for declining P/E might be more notable in the next list, below, of the year’s biggest losers among the S&P 500.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 16, 2026

The remains were one of several found that summer at Lake Mead, where water levels have been declining for decades, but his identity remained a mystery.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2026

In light of slower growth expectations and declining user engagement, Netflix is the latest tech and entertainment company to resort to job cuts amid a challenging economic environment.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 15, 2026

Any more time traveling and her health would have started declining until she looked like one of the fragile Glitchers who lived in the nursing home on the edge of the Academy.

From "Glitch" by Laura Martin

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---

Related Words

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

---