decline
verb (used with object)
to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse.
has been declining
-
present perfect progressiveof decline (3rd person singular).present perfect progressive
Used to describe an action that began in the past, has continued continuously, and is still in progress.
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.
It's a topic we looked at in depth last year, when analysis from the Education Policy Institute suggested that girls' performance has been "declining in absolute terms" since the Covid pandemic.
From BBC ● Aug. 20, 2026
While SpaceX’s stock has been declining, Meta’s has had a good month.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 20, 2026
That mobile infrastructure business still makes up a little more than half of Nokia’s revenue, but the unit’s revenue has been declining since mobile carriers largely completed their fifth-generation network deployments.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026
The company’s capital spending has been declining, because it completed growth projects in Kazakhstan and the U.S.
From Barron's ● Apr. 30, 2026
As a consequence, the amount of sunlight that is absorbed by the ground has been declining, and by changes in the land use we are lowering the surface temperature of our planet.
From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan
