decree
Americannoun
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decrees
plural
-
a formal and authoritative order, especially one having the force of law.
a presidential decree.
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Law. a judicial decision or order.
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Theology. one of the eternal purposes of God, by which events are foreordained.
verb (used with or without object)
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decrees,
present (3rd person singular)
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decreed,
past participle, past
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decreeing
present participle
noun
-
an edict, law, etc, made by someone in authority
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an order or judgment of a court made after hearing a suit, esp in matrimonial proceedings See decree nisi decree absolute
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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decreernoun
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predecreeverb (used with object)
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decreeableadjective
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undecreedadjective
-
well-decreedadjective
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
decreesimple
-
decreessimple
-
have decreedperfect
-
has decreedperfect
-
am decreeingprogressive
-
are decreeingprogressive
-
is decreeingprogressive
-
have been decreeingperfect progressive
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has been decreeingperfect progressive
Past
-
decreedsimple
-
had decreedperfect
-
was decreeingprogressive
-
were decreeingprogressive
-
had been decreeingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decree
1275–1325; (noun) Middle English decre < Anglo-French decre, decret < Latin dēcrētum, noun use of neuter of dēcrētus, past participle of dēcernere; see decern; (v.) Middle English decreen, derivative of the noun
Explanation
Look carefully! A decree isn't something you get when you graduate. That one little letter change makes it something else altogether: a legally binding command or the announcement of such a thing. If you go back far enough, a decree referred to a decision handed down by the Roman emperor. In more modern usage, a divorce decree is the document issued by a court that terminates a marriage. And if you want to go out with someone on a date, but things keep preventing you from having the chance to ask, you could say that fate did not decree it to be so.
Vocabulary lists containing decree
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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 decree commits the merged studio to release 30 movies in each of the first two years of the deal, and 32 in each of the following three years.
From Barron's ● Sep. 30, 2026
A decree signed by President Vladimir Putin announced that the Russian operations of Metro Cash and Carry had been put under the "temporary management" of a company called UK Torg RUS.
From Barron's ● Sep. 28, 2026
“Both sides bore real litigation risk, and the decree reflects each side’s assessment of that risk,” Paramount wrote in its court filing.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2026
The measure is a decree law, meaning it can take effect immediately, but must be ratified by parliament within 60 days.
From BBC ● Sep. 24, 2026
The regime would not admit a state of war until it was proclaimed in a decree that had followed a court-martial which had condemned Colonel Aureliano Buendía to death in absentia.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
The decrees, which introduced a series of initiatives aimed at protecting tenants in the rental market, required parliamentary approval in order to remain in place.
From BBC ● Oct. 2, 2026
During his nearly 60-day period abroad so far, he has signed several other decrees, including some authorising his government to sign loan agreements with international financial institutions.
From BBC ● Aug. 4, 2026
But consent decrees are legally and politically complicated, and the treatment of migrant children further tangles the situation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 24, 2026
The decrees, the first of which were written under Louis XIV, ruled over the lives of enslaved people in the colonies.
From Barron's ● May 28, 2026
From the first day of his rule Arcadio revealed his predilection for decrees.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
For decades, China's Communist Party decreed that couples could have only one child.
From BBC ● Aug. 10, 2026
“In the odious decision of Dred Scott v. Sandford, this Court imposed the Southern States’ beliefs onto the Nation” and decreed Blacks could not become citizens, Roberts wrote.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
When it was adopted, California’s Article I, Section 18 decreed: “Neither slavery, nor involuntary servitude, unless for the punishment of crimes, shall ever be tolerated in this State.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 2, 2026
The outgoing president decreed a 24% minimum wage hike this January, more than even unions were demanding.
From Barron's ● Jun. 22, 2026
For tradition had long decreed that a bad dream on any New Year’s Eve was an omen of bad tomorrows.
From "In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson" by Bette Bao Lord
The second scenario is that they are expelled by the Premier League, which would require 15 of their rival clubs to vote in favour of a motion decreeing so.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Multiple lawsuits were filed challenging the rules, leading to a series of lower court decisions upholding some of New York’s new law but decreeing that other aspects were unconstitutional.
From Seattle Times ● Dec. 8, 2023
It is roughly analogous to a disgruntled DMV employee refusing to process your driver’s license renewal paperwork, and also unilaterally decreeing that you were never allowed to operate a motor vehicle in the first place.
From Slate ● Nov. 21, 2023
One resident, Gulnaz Gilmanova, wrote that she was ashamed of the village administration for decreeing that he be buried without military honors.
From New York Times ● Mar. 26, 2023
The facts about Everest were established, and this involved a triple process of finding, making and decreeing.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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.
