decrease
Americanverb (used without object)
-
decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
-
decreasing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
-
decreasing
present participle
noun
-
decreases
plural
-
the act or process of decreasing; condition of being decreased; gradual reduction.
a decrease in sales;
a decrease in intensity.
- Synonyms:
- subsidence, decline, abatement
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the amount by which a thing is lessened.
The decrease in sales was almost 20 percent.
verb
noun
-
the act or process of diminishing; reduction
-
the amount by which something has been diminished
Usage
What does decrease mean? To decrease is to lessen or become reduced in number, amount, size, or in some other way, as in Our profits will continue to decrease unless we cut costs. As a verb, decrease is also used in an active way in which someone or something is doing the decreasing, as in I’m going to decrease my hours at work or These sunglasses decrease glare. The word reduce is perhaps even more commonly used to mean the same thing. Decrease can also be used as a noun referring to a reduction, as in We are experiencing a decrease in applicants. It can also refer to the amount by which something has decreased, as in The decrease was $5,000 per year. The words decreased and decreasing can both be used as adjectives, as in a decreased appetite or decreasing sales. The opposite of decrease as both a verb and a noun is increase. Example: Sally decided to decrease her workload, which led to a decrease in stress.
Synonym Usage
Decrease, diminish, dwindle, shrink imply becoming smaller or less in amount. Decrease commonly implies a sustained reduction in stages, especially of bulk, size, volume, or quantity, often from some imperceptible cause or inherent process: The swelling decreased daily. Diminish usually implies the action of some external cause that keeps taking away: Disease caused the number of troops to diminish steadily. Dwindle implies an undesirable reduction by degrees, resulting in attenuation: His followers dwindled to a mere handful. Shrink especially implies contraction through an inherent property under specific conditions: Many fabrics shrink in hot water.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decreasesimple
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decreasessimple
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have decreasedperfect
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has decreasedperfect
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am decreasingprogressive
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are decreasingprogressive
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is decreasingprogressive
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have been decreasingperfect progressive
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has been decreasingperfect progressive
Past
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decreasedsimple
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had decreasedperfect
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was decreasingprogressive
-
were decreasingprogressive
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had been decreasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decrease
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb decresen, from Old French decreiss-, long stem of decreistre, from Latin dēcrēscere “to diminish,” literally “to grow down,” equivalent to dē- de- + crēscere “to grow”); noun derivative of the verb; see crescent
Explanation
Decrease means to lower or go down. If you are driving above the speed limit, you should decrease your speed or risk getting a ticket. Students always want teachers to decrease the amount of homework. The opposite of decrease is increase, which means to raise. In science, you often are measuring increases and decreases. Is there a decrease in the time it takes water to boil when you begin with water as a liquid rather than water in its ice-cube form?
Vocabulary lists containing decrease
List 2
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Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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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:
The creatine group also experienced a larger decrease in body fat percentage.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 30, 2026
The $70 billion figure is “serious enough to decrease concerns about client exposure” for the cloud company, he noted.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 29, 2026
Bass: I am concerned it might continue to decrease, because the numbers that have been approved financially, I don’t know that that’s going to keep up.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 20, 2026
My doctor was able to decrease that medication as well!
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 17, 2026
Shortly after nine that night the hurricane began to decrease.
From "Shipwreck at the Bottom of the World" by Jennifer Armstrong
The bill also gives some legal protection for school districts against financial penalties if their arts funding decreases as a result of factors beyond their control, such as the expiration of a grant.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The largest decreases were among study-permit holders and work-and-study permit holders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Future net interest income growth for the bank will be supported by market shares of at least 10% in most regions, which decreases earnings volatility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
The results, published in Physical Review Letters, show that the strength of gravity decreases with distance almost exactly as predicted by Newton's equations and later incorporated into Einstein's theory of general relativity.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 25, 2026
Within days, the mortality rate from bacterial infections decreases to levels never before achieved.
From "We Are the Ants" by Shaun David Hutchinson
Conventional egg sales decreased 60%, hurt by lower selling prices as sales volumes were roughly flat.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Entering this season, Kelce’s 14th in the NFL, Kelce’s production had decreased for three consecutive years.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Pass product unit sales through Sept. 18 for the upcoming 2026-27 North American ski season decreased about 12%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Both turtles were found cold-stunned - when temperatures rapidly decline and the struggle to find warmer waters can make them lethargic and experience decreased circulation.
From BBC ● Sep. 25, 2026
The number of demons steadily decreased as people lost their masks or tired of the game.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
Turkey and the European Union each accounted for 5% during the same time period, although Russian energy exports to the EU have been decreasing.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The personal-consumption expenditures price index rose by 0.2% in July, after decreasing by 0.1% in June.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
The researchers also showed that they can manipulate the microcomb's "rainbow" by increasing or decreasing the strength of individual frequencies.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 24, 2026
More and more, diners are leaning into “proteinmaxxing,” the viral health trend that promotes increased protein intake with the goal of boosting metabolism, decreasing appetite and increasing muscle mass.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
On one of the shelves, Mariam saw a collection of identical wooden dolls, arranged in a line in order of decreasing size.
From "A Thousand Splendid Suns" by Khaled Hosseini
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.
