decentralize
Americanverb (used with object)
-
decentralizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decentralized,
past participle, past
-
decentralizing
present participle
-
to distribute the administrative powers or functions of (a central authority) over a less concentrated area.
to decentralize the national government.
-
to disperse (something) from an area of concentration.
to decentralize the nation's industry.
verb (used without object)
-
decentralizes,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decentralized,
past participle, past
-
decentralizing
present participle
verb
-
to reorganize (a government, industry, etc) into smaller more autonomous units
-
to disperse (a concentration, as of industry or population)
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
decentralizesimple
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decentralizessimple
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have decentralizedperfect
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has decentralizedperfect
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am decentralizingprogressive
-
are decentralizingprogressive
-
is decentralizingprogressive
-
have been decentralizingperfect progressive
-
has been decentralizingperfect progressive
Past
-
decentralizedsimple
-
had decentralizedperfect
-
was decentralizingprogressive
-
were decentralizingprogressive
-
had been decentralizingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decentralize
First recorded in 1850–55; de- + centralize
Explanation
To decentralize is to move control from one big organization to several smaller ones. A bookstore chain might decentralize by shifting from one main buyer purchasing books for all the stores to individual store buyers making those purchases. In government, the term decentralize is used when authority moves away from federal control to the state — or from the state to a local level. Your state, for example, might decentralize laws about stores using plastic bags by allowing each city or town to make its own rules. In business, a company decentralizes when it gives more control to individual locations (like the freedom to hire workers and make rules), rather than making these decisions for them.
Vocabulary lists containing decentralize
Western Europe - Introductory
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Western Europe - Middle School and High School
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Prefixes: de-
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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:
Even the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ command and control over its components is uncertain, due in part to Iran’s longstanding defensive strategy to decentralize authority, which it executed at the war’s outset.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 12, 2026
But Valderrama Blanco says Gálvez Ruiz will decentralize science policy and give more authority over science funding to Mexico’s state governments, an approach discouraged by the current law.
From Science Magazine ● May 2, 2024
But Minkovitch hopes Ukraine’s Western partners will provide modern technology to decentralize power in time for winter.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 19, 2024
I'm a dyed-in-the-wool tech enthusiast who marvels openly at the creative persistence of programmers on a mission to further decentralize the internet.
From Salon ● Jul. 12, 2023
It is probable, therefore, that on the whole the effect of Socialism would be to decentralize rather than to centralize.
From Twentieth Century Socialism What It Is Not; What It Is: How It May Come by Edmond Kelly
The draft is expected to be the first sporting event to be held at The Sphere and a showcase opportunity for the league before the draft decentralizes starting in 2025.
From Washington Times ● Dec. 5, 2023
"Willow" decentralizes the typical white male hero in its power fantasy, making the most important person in the universe a baby girl and the second most a little person.
From Salon ● Nov. 30, 2022
“The quota system decentralizes and simplifies execution but incentivizes local authorities to prioritize output at any cost. This can create abuses.”
From Slate ● Oct. 23, 2022
Web2 centralizes a bunch of cool stuff that was happening with Web1, but you are saying Web3 decentralizes it again.
From The Verge ● Apr. 12, 2022
Now, this division of power, which decentralizes the government without creating mutually hostile forces, can hardly be introduced into any European state.
From The American Republic : constitution, tendencies and destiny by Orestes Augustus Brownson
Our water system’s decentralized, fragmented nature, perhaps a bit like our electoral system, is a double-edged sword, inasmuch as its vulnerabilities are atomized—at least a single hacker can’t contaminate all the water in the country.
From Slate ● Aug. 19, 2026
“The holy grail of prediction markets, they shed light on some of the most consequential, decentralized and human processes in the world, where good data is crucial and hard to find.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Its operations span more than 60 venues ranging from the Chicago Mercantile Exchange to the decentralized crypto exchange Uniswap.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
The word “DeFiant” was a coy wink to this idea of decentralized currency, known as DeFi, the ostensible rationale for the new Trump–Witkoff platform.
From Slate ● Jul. 22, 2026
During much of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, private detective agencies had filled the vacuum left by decentralized, underfunded, incompetent, and corrupt sheriff and police departments.
From "Killers of the Flower Moon" by David Grann
The president reiterated his commitment to decentralizing the economy and granting greater autonomy to state-owned enterprises, which account for roughly 80 percent of economic activity.
From Barron's ● Jun. 12, 2026
In “Humanocracy,” Gary Hamel and Michele Zanini describe how decentralizing individual responsibility helps businesses thrive.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 12, 2025
One solution may be decentralizing them by creating a network of small facilities that are harder to hit than large plants.
From Seattle Times ● Apr. 4, 2024
States legislatures, in turn, delegate most of the management of elections to counties or other smaller government units, further decentralizing control over elections.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 8, 2023
In other words, the defiance of conventions was an artistic victory, a decentralizing success.
From The Christmas Kalends of Provence And Some Other Provençal Festivals by Thomas A. (Thomas Allibone) Janvier
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.
