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:
The October consumer-price index, due Tuesday, is the last CPI reading officials will see before their Dec. 8-9 meeting; November’s report comes out the day after the decision.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
Plaid took over the Welsh government in May, with the decision to end the tree-planting scheme coming as it prepares to publish its draft budget for 2026-27 later this month.
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
A spokesperson for the district attorney’s office declined to answer a question about the decision not to charge Skipp Townsend.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 6, 2026
I’d be interested in hearing from anyone who has considered or used a similar strategy, as well as from those who see potential drawbacks I should discuss with my adviser before making a decision.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
The woman glanced away for the briefest of moments and seemed to come to a decision.
From "Two Degrees" by Alan Gratz
The spokesperson said: "The claimants respectfully disagree with those unprecedented decisions, which they consider to be legally and factually flawed."
From BBC ● Nov. 6, 2026
Bharbi Hazarika spoke with Jason about why political bias can influence investment decisions and how to separate meaningful policy changes from political noise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
And Beth Pinsker followed up with these instructions on how the new tax brackets can affect decisions on Roth IRA conversions in 2027.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 6, 2026
Although the results suggest that heart scans could help doctors make more targeted treatment decisions, the trial did not establish that the scan approach was as effective as conventional risk assessment.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 6, 2026
“Maybe if we weren’t backed into a corner, we wouldn’t have to make decisions like that. We’re just kids!”
From "Witchlings" by Claribel A. Ortega
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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.
