decrease
Americanverb (used without object)
-
decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
-
decreasing
present participle
verb (used with object)
-
decreases,
present (3rd person singular)
-
decreased,
past participle, past
-
decreasing
present participle
noun
-
decreases
plural
-
the act or process of decreasing; condition of being decreased; gradual reduction.
a decrease in sales;
a decrease in intensity.
- Synonyms:
- subsidence, decline, abatement
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the amount by which a thing is lessened.
The decrease in sales was almost 20 percent.
verb
noun
-
the act or process of diminishing; reduction
-
the amount by which something has been diminished
Usage
What does decrease mean? To decrease is to lessen or become reduced in number, amount, size, or in some other way, as in Our profits will continue to decrease unless we cut costs. As a verb, decrease is also used in an active way in which someone or something is doing the decreasing, as in I’m going to decrease my hours at work or These sunglasses decrease glare. The word reduce is perhaps even more commonly used to mean the same thing. Decrease can also be used as a noun referring to a reduction, as in We are experiencing a decrease in applicants. It can also refer to the amount by which something has decreased, as in The decrease was $5,000 per year. The words decreased and decreasing can both be used as adjectives, as in a decreased appetite or decreasing sales. The opposite of decrease as both a verb and a noun is increase. Example: Sally decided to decrease her workload, which led to a decrease in stress.
Synonym Usage
Decrease, diminish, dwindle, shrink imply becoming smaller or less in amount. Decrease commonly implies a sustained reduction in stages, especially of bulk, size, volume, or quantity, often from some imperceptible cause or inherent process: The swelling decreased daily. Diminish usually implies the action of some external cause that keeps taking away: Disease caused the number of troops to diminish steadily. Dwindle implies an undesirable reduction by degrees, resulting in attenuation: His followers dwindled to a mere handful. Shrink especially implies contraction through an inherent property under specific conditions: Many fabrics shrink in hot water.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decreasesimple
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decreasessimple
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have decreasedperfect
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has decreasedperfect
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am decreasingprogressive
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are decreasingprogressive
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is decreasingprogressive
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have been decreasingperfect progressive
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has been decreasingperfect progressive
Past
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decreasedsimple
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had decreasedperfect
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was decreasingprogressive
-
were decreasingprogressive
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had been decreasingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decrease
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English verb decresen, from Old French decreiss-, long stem of decreistre, from Latin dēcrēscere “to diminish,” literally “to grow down,” equivalent to dē- de- + crēscere “to grow”); noun derivative of the verb; see crescent
Explanation
Decrease means to lower or go down. If you are driving above the speed limit, you should decrease your speed or risk getting a ticket. Students always want teachers to decrease the amount of homework. The opposite of decrease is increase, which means to raise. In science, you often are measuring increases and decreases. Is there a decrease in the time it takes water to boil when you begin with water as a liquid rather than water in its ice-cube form?
Vocabulary lists containing decrease
List 2
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Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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Ratios and Proportional Relationships
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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.
See Examples For:
There, despite a five percent decrease in cultivated areas production is set to come in up 10 percent on 2025, albeit still 11 percent below the 2021-2025 average.
From Barron's ● Oct. 7, 2026
Pitkin County Commissioner Greg Poschman has heard estimates of as much as a 20% decrease in visitors.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
Enrollment declined from 440,365 to 369,830 students, a decrease of about16%.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 6, 2026
The plan is simply this: If you hit the guardrail on the high end or the low end, you will increase or decrease spending until you get back to that 85% chance of success.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 2, 2026
The gravitational force between two bodies would decrease more rapidly with distance than it does in three dimensions.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
The largest decreases were among study-permit holders and work-and-study permit holders.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 23, 2026
Future net interest income growth for the bank will be supported by market shares of at least 10% in most regions, which decreases earnings volatility.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 21, 2026
LAHSA’s latest homeless count found that homelessness went up in L.A. this year after two years of decreases.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 4, 2026
The frequency of the incoming light decreases, reducing the amount of thrust produced by all three components.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 2, 2026
It starts at zero, increases to a maximum, and then decreases to zero again.
From "A Brief History of Time: And Other Essays" by Stephen Hawking
“Their osteoporosis has worsened, and they’ve ended up suffering compression fractures in their back as a result of the decreased density of their bones.”
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 8, 2026
Truck supply has decreased due to safety enforcement, said Shelley Simpson, CEO of J.B.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
Sales across Conagra’s grocery and snacks segment decreased 2.6%, as lower sales volumes more than offset higher prices.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 30, 2026
Pass product unit sales through Sept. 18 for the upcoming 2026-27 North American ski season decreased about 12%.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2026
Sheed decreased his eating speed by half, just to annoy his cousin.
From "The Last Last-Day-of-Summer" by Lamar Giles
The feed industry has emphasized that it is decreasing its reliance on fishmeal and fish oil — and especially the use of whole fish or fish parts that can be eaten by people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026
Penguins with narrower diets, including Emperors and Adélies, are decreasing in number in some regions.
From Science Daily ● Sep. 22, 2026
Turkey and the European Union each accounted for 5% during the same time period, although Russian energy exports to the EU have been decreasing.
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
The climate pattern promotes hurricane formation in the tropical Pacific while decreasing their likelihood in the Atlantic.
From Barron's ● Sep. 8, 2026
But then a few years later, rates of execution and death sentencing were once again decreasing.
From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
