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.

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of diminishing returns

First recorded in 1805–15

Example Sentences

You can understand where she’s coming from, but after a certain point ... she’s gonna hit diminishing returns.

From Los Angeles Times

For Iran’s beleaguered government, winning requires hunkering down as its attackers face diminishing returns from each new day of battle.

From Barron's

“There’s a point of diminishing returns. You’d studied all day already. You needed a break. Remember what happened with those standardized tests when you got so stressed?”

From Literature

It's yet to be seen whether this is a virtuous circle that never stops, or whether Mercedes will reach diminishing returns and McLaren can catch up.

From BBC

Allen Feng from think tank Rhodium Group warned of diminishing returns from subsidies, as "they don't create income".

From Barron's