decrease
Americanverb (used without object)
-
decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
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decreasing
present participle
verb (used with object)
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decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
-
decreasing
present participle
noun
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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
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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:
It can lose its outer layers while its dense core remains comparatively unchanged, causing the amount of mass lost to decrease over successive encounters.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
Some attribute the recent emphasis on protein intake to the rise of GLP-1 medications, which often decrease appetite and make it challenging to eat enough protein to preserve lean muscle mass during weight loss.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2026
In addition, U.S. tariffs on Canadian-built automobiles are due to decrease to 15% from 25%, according to multiple published reports.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 21, 2026
That month, the reports pointed to a decrease in leverage in the tech sector, tipping traders off that someone focused on those stocks was likely in trouble.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 17, 2026
They laughed then, uproariously, about the speed with which they had run, the pose they had assumed, the ruse they had invented to escape or decrease some threat to their manliness, their humanness.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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
Nationwide there has been 36 consecutive months of annual rent decreases nationwide, even as mortgage rates and home prices have remained stubbornly high in many metropolitan areas.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
A 2021 study from the Orthopedic Journal of Sports Medicine, however, showed that decreases in fastball velocity are an extremely common precursor of elbow problems that result in Tommy John surgery.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 14, 2026
Public health experts have long advised that the combined shot offers children more protection faster, and also decreases the logistical hurdles for parents who may struggle to make multiple appointments.
From Barron's ● Aug. 10, 2026
The number of juggled balls decreases until the juggler himself vanishes.
From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern
However, it said, over 25 years, average earnings in real terms in the public sector decreased by 3% while they increased by 1.2% in the private sector.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
Although the number of patients coming to the clinics has decreased over time, Mangia said, there is still concern about other issues tied to the warehouse site, such as the pests.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 20, 2026
The more you spend on buying the condo, the less growth you’ll get out of your portfolio because of your decreased principal.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 19, 2026
During the same period, average levels of calcium and phosphorus decreased.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 15, 2026
Those noises have decreased dramatically, and Mark knows why.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
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
In the U.K., they explained, the government’s debt-management office has tried to lower long-term bond yields by decreasing the amount of supply in the market.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 20, 2026
Fossil-fuel power plants have deteriorated over the past few decades, decreasing output.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 9, 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.
