decrease
Americanverb (used without object)
verb (used with object)
noun
-
the act or process of decreasing; condition of being decreased; gradual reduction.
a decrease in sales;
a decrease in intensity.
- Synonyms:
- subsidence, decline, abatement
-
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.
Related Words
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
- decreasing adjective
- decreasingly adverb
- undecreased adjective
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; crescent
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.
He suggests that the decreasing numbers of people who may previously have taken the odd deer for their dinner table is also a factor.
From BBC
It seems decreasingly ironic the more we hear it.
Public Health Scotland said it had seen two weeks of cases decreasing.
From BBC
After failing to secure a buyer, the former owners—who have not been named—decreased the asking price once again to $4.49 million.
From MarketWatch
In November, prices rose to a new monthly high, the typical home took 7 days longer to go under contract than a year prior, and new listings decreased to a new monthly low.
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.
