Thesaurus article: to become smaller or less

These words are used to describe when something becomes smaller, less, or is brought to a lower level.

The most common word for this is decrease.

The verbs lessen, lower, and reduce, and the phrasal verb bring down are often used when someone decreases an amount or level.

Drop, fall, go down, and come down are often used when a level or amount decreases.

If a level or amount decreases very quickly, plummet and plunge are sometimes used.

In business settings, if something such as a company or a financial market suddenly loses most of its value, you can say that it has crashed or, in US English, cratered.

If a level or amount decreases gradually, the verbs dwindle and decline are sometimes used.

If the size of something decreases, shrink can be used. The verb contract is used in technical contexts.

The opposite of decrease is increase.

For more opposites of decrease, see the article at increase.