decision
Americannoun
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decisions
plural
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the act or process of deciding; determination, as of a question or doubt, by making a judgment.
They must make a decision between these two contestants.
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the act of or need for making up one's mind.
This is a difficult decision.
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something that is decided; resolution.
She made a poor decision when she dropped out of school.
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a judgment, as one formally pronounced by a court.
It is the decision of this court that the appeal is granted.
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the quality of being decided; firmness.
He spoke with decision and calm authority.
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the final score in any sport or contest.
The decision was 5 to 4 in favor of the home team.
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Boxing. the awarding of a victory in a match not decided by a knockout or technical knockout, usually through a vote of the referee and judges.
verb (used with object)
noun
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a judgment, conclusion, or resolution reached or given; verdict
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the act of making up one's mind
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firmness of purpose or character; determination
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of decision
First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English decisioun, from Middle French, from Latin dēcīsiōn-, stem of dēcīsiō “a cutting off,” equivalent to dēcīs(us) (past participle of dēcīdere “to cut off”; see decide) + -iō -ion
Explanation
To make a decision is to make up your mind about something. To act with decision is to proceed with determination, which might be a natural character trait. Decision originally comes from the Latin decidere ("determine"). You make decisions every day: what to wear, what to eat, how to spend your money, who to vote for, what movie to go to. A court judge makes a decision in a trial (and actually "hands down" or "announces" that decision). If judges make the decision in a boxing match, the winner wins "by decision." More loosely, decision can also refer to the outcome of any game or contest.
Vocabulary lists containing decision
"Principles of Business," Vocabulary from Chapter 1
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Common Suffixes: -ion, -tion, -ation
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President Obama's second inaugural address
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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:
Ramaswamy has recently alluded to some of this history in trying to explain his decision to run the ad with Acton’s mother.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
“There are some ‘shoulds’ around homeownership as a financial decision, which I also now believe to be untrue, at least for us,” she says.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
"They put him in this position by not making the decision to give him a breather."
From BBC ● Oct. 28, 2026
Despite this, Navarro has been active in Yerevan promoting Panama's hosting bid as a decision looms, eagerly shaking hands and passing around business cards made of biodegradable pulp.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
“What isn’t a hard decision? Who are Saul and Jonas? I don’t understand what a family legend has to do with anything.”
From "Boy 2.0" by Tracey Baptiste
She still tells people she worked at Facebook, rather than Meta, partly because she’s disagreed with some of Zuckerberg’s decisions since she left the company.
From Slate ● Oct. 28, 2026
They alleged a litany of irregularities in the trial, including an "oppressive" cross-examination and unfair decisions on the admission of evidence.
From Barron's ● Oct. 28, 2026
“There are no obvious decisions, no easy call,” said Dan Shibilia, a parent who has served on the district’s school board.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 28, 2026
Of course, bad decisions have to happen, or nothing will go wrong.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 28, 2026
She was selfish and always made the wrong decisions.
From "Ophie's Ghosts" by Justina Ireland
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
