diminishing returns

American  

[dih-min-ish-ing ri-turnz] / dɪˈmɪn ɪʃ ɪŋ rɪˈtɜrnz /

noun

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

2. 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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diminishing returns British  

plural noun

1. 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

2. 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

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Etymology

Origin of diminishing returns

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

diminishing returns

The diminishing returns of instant gratification might explain why catalogs are nearly always, according to trade publications and business journals, on the verge of a renaissance.

From Salon ● Jul. 18, 2026

Wall Street is still bullish on stocks over the second half of the year but sees diminishing returns over the next six months as many of these issues play out.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

They also used the shortest path in a non-Riemannian space to account for diminishing returns in color perception, another effect that had not been fully captured by the older approach.

From Science Daily ● Jun. 7, 2026

“We’re seeing diminishing returns for Russia from last year’s adaptations,” said Lee.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026

So far the explanation covers the “extractive industries” only, or those industries affected by the law of diminishing returns when a larger quantity is demanded.

From Principles Of Political Economy Abridged with Critical, Bibliographical, and Explanatory Notes, and a Sketch of the History of Political Economy by Mill, John Stuart