diminishing returns

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noun

any rate of profit, production, benefits, etc., that beyond a certain point fails to increase proportionately with added investment, effort, or skill.

Also called law of diminishing returns. Economics. the fact, often stated as a law or principle, that when any factor of production, as labor, is increased while other factors, as capital and land, are held constant in amount, the output per unit of the variable factor will eventually diminish.

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Origin of diminishing returns

First recorded in 1805–15

Words nearby diminishing returns

dimin., diminish, diminished, diminished responsibility, diminished seventh chord, diminishing returns, diminishing returns, law of, diminuendo, diminution, diminutive, dimissory

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use diminishing returns in a sentence

I think if you keep trying to do things the same way it becomes diminishing returns.
Belle & Sebastian Aren’t So Shy Anymore|James Joiner|January 7, 2015|DAILY BEAST
When ‘Downton Abbey’ returns Sunday night, its fashion fans are in for a familiar treat.
What Downton’s Fashion Really Means|Katie Baker|January 2, 2015|DAILY BEAST
Sabrine says that if Ziad returns, she will make him leave the army.
A Sunni-Shia Love Story Imperiled by al Qaeda|Ruth Michaelson|December 26, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Six months of sterility results, after which normal fertility returns.
Men, Ice Your Balls To Make Babies—and Other Male Fertility Fixes|Tom Sykes|December 22, 2014|DAILY BEAST

The industry lore is downright jaw-dropping in the details of the cons known as “brick-in-box” returns.
The Insane $11 Billion Scam at Retailers’ Return Desks|M.L. Nestel|December 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The remaining figures, being taken from census returns and other reliable authorities, are more satisfactory.
Showell's Dictionary of Birmingham|Thomas T. Harman and Walter Showell
Altogether, it seems that not more than one-third of our fast diminishing total are available for actual fighting purposes.
Gallipoli Diary, Volume I|Ian Hamilton
As he had foreseen, the business of the house rapidly increased: its returns were great.
Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine, No. CCCXXXIX. January, 1844. Vol. LV.|Various
The Mugnaia now returns to the box in which she sits in royal state, the observed of all observers.
The Pit Town Coronet, Volume I (of 3)|Charles James Wills
I have a little daughter who never returns from a walk in the woods without bringing a bunch of gay flowers.
The Nursery, July 1873, Vol. XIV. No. 1|Various

British Dictionary definitions for diminishing returns

diminishing returns

pl n economics

progressively smaller rises in output resulting from the increased application of a variable input, such as labour, to a fixed quantity, as of capital or land

the increase in the average cost of production that may arise beyond a certain point as a result of increasing the overall scale of production

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

diminishing returns

Origin of diminishing returns

Words nearby diminishing returns

Words related to diminishing returns

How to use diminishing returns in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for diminishing returns