decline
[verb]
Synonyms:
- lessen, decrease, diminish, dwindle, ebb, fade, fall off, shrink, sink, wane
- deteriorate, decay, degenerate, droop, languish, pine, weaken, worsen
- refuse, abstain, avoid, reject, say `no', turn down
[noun]
Synonyms:
- lessening, downturn, drop, dwindling, falling off, recession, slump
- deterioration, decay, degeneration, failing, weakening, worsening

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Antonyms: ascend, accept
Contrasted words: advance, progress, develop, mature, gain, recover, receive, take, accede, acquiesce, assent, consent, choose, select, adopt, embrace, espouse, advancement, recovery, development, maturation, evolution, upswing, uptrend, upturn
Related Idioms: go downhill, take a turn for the worse, send regrets
Related Words: backslide, lapse, relapse, slide, return, revert, recede, retrograde, abate, ebb, subside, wane, balk, boggle, demur, jib, scruple, shy, stick, stickle, abstain, forbear, refrain, deny, gainsay, abjure, renounce, bypass, devitalization, weakening, comedown, descent, drop, fall, falling off, slump, backsliding, loss, lowering, depression, decrease, drop-off, sell-off

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English Thesaurus: decrease, go down, decline, diminish, fall/drop, ...

[TahlilGaran] English Synonym Dictionary ▲

I. de‧cline¹ W2 AC /dɪˈklaɪn/ noun [singular, uncountable]
a decrease in the quality, quantity, or importance of something
decline in
There has been a decline in the size of families.
decline of
the decline of manufacturing
rapid/sharp/steep/dramatic decline
a rapid decline in unemployment
steady/gradual/long-term decline
The island’s population initially numbered 180, but there was a gradual decline until only 40 people were left.
the economic decline faced by many cities
in decline/on the decline (=falling)
the widely held belief that educational standards are in decline
fall/go etc into decline (=become less important, successful etc)
The port fell into decline in the 1950s.

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

II. decline² W3 AC verb
[Date: 1300-1400; Language: French; Origin: décliner, from Latin declinare 'to turn aside, inflect']

1. DECREASE [intransitive] to decrease in quantity or importance:
Spending on information technology has declined.
Car sales have declined by a quarter.
After the war, the city declined in importance.

2. SAY NO [intransitive and transitive] formal to say no politely when someone invites you somewhere, offers you something, or wants you to do something:
Offered the position of chairman, Smith declined, preferring to keep his current job.
Mary declined a hot drink and went to her room.
decline an offer/invitation etc
Mary declined Jay’s invitation to dinner.
decline to do something
The court declined to review her case.
The minister declined to comment (=refused to speak to people who report the news) about the progress of the peace talks.

3. BECOME WORSE [intransitive] to become gradually worse in quality Synonym : deteriorate:
Her health has been declining progressively for several months.
Qualified staff are leaving and standards are declining.

4. sb’s declining years formal the last years of someone’s life

5. GRAMMAR
a) [intransitive] if a noun, pronoun, or adjective declines, its form changes according to whether it is the subject, object etc of a sentence
b) [transitive] if you decline a noun, pronoun, or adjective, you show the various forms that it can take
—declining adjective:
declining attendance at baseball games

[TahlilGaran] Dictionary of Contemporary English ▲

decline
noun
ADJ. catastrophic, considerable, dramatic, drastic, massive, marked, precipitate, precipitous, rapid, serious, sharp, significant, steep, substantial | gentle, gradual, modest, slight, slow | continuing, progressive, steady a steady decline in manufacturing
general, long-term, overall | absolute, inevitable, inexorable, irreversible, terminal an industry in terminal decline
economic, industrial, moral, political, urban the moral decline of the nation
national
VERB + DECLINE fall into, go into, suffer The cloth trade went into gradual decline.
cause, lead to The increased gold price lead to the decline of his jewellery business.
arrest, halt, stop We must halt this decline in health services.
prevent | accelerate | see We have seen a sharp decline in educational standards over recent years.
PREP. in ~ The motor industry is still in decline.
on the ~ This area has been on the decline for some years now.
~ in a steep decline in sales
~ of the decline of British farming
PHRASES the decline and fall of sth the decline and fall of a great civilization

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

decline
verb
I. refuse
ADV. politely | absolutely I absolutely decline to discuss my dealings with him or anyone.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

decline
II. become smaller/weaker
ADV. considerably, dramatically, drastically, markedly, sharply, significantly, steeply The economy has declined sharply in recent years.
a little, slightly | fast, rapidly The market for these products is declining fast.
steadily | gradually, slowly | further
PREP. by Profits declined by 6% this year.
from, to The number of full-time staff has declined from 300 to just 50.
PHRASES decline in importance/numbers/size This section of the market has slowly declined in importance.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

decline

sharp/steep (=by a large amount)
The higher prices caused a sharp decline in sales.
rapid (=fast)
We noticed a rapid decline in his health.
dramatic (=extremely fast, and by a large amount)
The last three years have seen a dramatic decline in the number of tigers in the area.
marked (=very noticeable)
Hunting led to a marked decline in bird numbers.
gradual
After 1870, there was a gradual decline of the disease.
steady/progressive (=gradual but continuous)
There has been a steady decline in club membership.
a long-term decline (=happening for a long time)
The long-term decline in the manufacturing industry is still continuing.
economic/industrial etc decline
This area has been severely affected by long-term industrial decline.
cause/lead to a decline
The use of agricultural chemicals has led to a decline in water quality.
go/fall into decline (=become less important, successful etc)
At the beginning of the century the cloth trade was going into decline.
suffer a decline
The firm suffered a sharp decline in its profits.
stop/halt a decline (=stop it from continuing)
These measures are intended to halt the decline in fish populations.
reverse a decline (=make something start to improve again)
The main aim is to reverse the decline of the world’s environment.
see a decline (=used to say that a decline happens at a particular time or in a particular place)
The 20th century saw a steady decline in the rural population.

[TahlilGaran] Collocations Dictionary ▲

decrease to become less in number or amount:
The average rainfall has decreased by around 30 percent.
go down to decrease. Go down is less formal than decrease and is the usual word to use in conversation:
Unemployment has gone down in the past few months.
decline formal to decrease – used with numbers or amounts, or about the level or standard of something:
The standard of living has declined.
Support for the government is steadily declining.
Salaries have declined by around 4.5%.
diminish to become smaller or less important:
Union membership diminished from 30,000 at its height to just 2,000 today.
fall/drop to decrease, especially by a large amount. Fall and drop are less formal than decrease:
The number of tigers in the wild has fallen to just over 10,000.
At night, the temperature drops to minus 20 degrees.
plunge /plʌndʒ/
plummet /ˈplʌmət, ˈplʌmɪt/ to suddenly decrease very quickly and by a very large amount:
Share prices have plummeted 29% in the last four months.
Climate change could cause global temperatures to plummet.
slide if a price or value slides, it gradually decreases in a way that causes problems – used especially in news reports:
The dollar fell in late trading in New York yesterday and slid further this morning.
dwindle /ˈdwɪndl/ to gradually decrease until there is very little left of something, especially numbers or amounts, popularity, or importance:
Support for the theory is dwindling.
taper off /ˈteɪpə $ -ər/ if a number or the amount of an activity that is happening tapers off, it gradually decreases, especially so that it stops completely:
Political violence tapered off after the elections.
reduction used when the price, amount, or level of something is made lower:
There will be further price reductions in the sales.
A small reduction in costs can mean a large increase in profits.
cut used when a government or company reduces the price, amount, or level of something:
a 1% cut in interest rates
tax cuts
It is possible that there will be further job cuts.
drop/fall used when the number, amount, or level of something goes down, especially by a large amount:
The figures showed a sharp fall in industrial output.
There was a dramatic drop in temperature.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

deteriorate to become worse:
Air quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.
Living conditions here have deteriorated in the past few years.
get worse to become worse. Get worse is less formal and more common than deteriorate in everyday English:
My eyesight seems to be getting worse.
He’s never been well-behaved, but he’s getting even worse.
go down to become gradually worse – used especially about the standard of something:
The hotel’s gone down since its management changed.
Nick’s teachers say that his work has gone down recently.
go downhill to become much worse and be in a very bad condition, especially after a particular time or event:
During the recession the business began to go downhill.
Her health went downhill rapidly after Christmas.
decline especially written to become gradually worse – used especially about standards of living, education, health etc:
After the war, the standard of living declined.
Over the years, the standard of public transport has declined.
degenerate formal to become worse, or to become something bad instead of something good:
Relations between the two countries have degenerated.
The debate degenerated into an argument between the two sides.
escalate to become much worse very quickly – used especially about fighting, violence, or a bad situation:
Further violence could escalate into a full-scale armed conflict.
The political crisis escalated.
spiral out of control to become worse in a way that cannot be controlled and is extremely serious and worrying:
Police say that the violence has spiralled out of control.
Scientists are worried that global warming could soon spiral out of control.
Costs have been spiralling out of control.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

fall (also fall over, fall down) to suddenly go down onto the floor when standing, walking, or running:
She fell on the stairs and broke her ankle.
Children are always falling over.
trip on/over something to fall or almost fall when you hit your foot against something:
Someone might trip over those toys.
I tripped on a piece of wood.
slip to fall or almost fall when you are walking on a wet or very smooth surface:
She slipped and hurt her ankle.
I was scared I would slip on the highly polished floor.
stumble to almost fall when you put your foot down in an awkward way:
He stumbled and almost fell.
One of our porters stumbled on the rough ground.
collapse to fall suddenly and heavily to the ground, especially when you become unconscious:
One of the runners collapsed halfway through the race.
lose your balance to become unsteady so that you start to fall over:
She lost her balance on the first step and fell down the stairs.
Have something to hold onto, in case you lose your balance.
fall flat on your face to fall forwards so you are lying on your front on the ground:
She fell flat on her face getting out of the car.
decrease used when the number, amount, or level of something becomes less than it used to be:
There has been a significant decrease in the number of deaths from lung cancer.
a 5% decrease in housing prices
reduction used when the price, amount, or level of something is made lower:
There will be further price reductions in the sales.
A small reduction in costs can mean a large increase in profits.
cut used when a government or company reduces the price, amount, or level of something:
a 1% cut in interest rates
tax cuts
It is possible that there will be further job cuts.
drop/fall used when the number, amount, or level of something goes down, especially by a large amount:
The figures showed a sharp fall in industrial output.
There was a dramatic drop in temperature.
decline used when the number, amount, level, or standard of something goes down, especially gradually:
During the 1970s, there was a gradual decline in the birthrate.
a decline in educational standards

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲

refuse to say firmly that you will not do something that someone has asked you to do:
I asked the bank for a loan, but they refused.
When they refused to leave, we had to call the police.
say no spoken to say that you will not do something when someone asks you:
They asked me so nicely that I couldn’t really say no.
turn somebody/something down to refuse to accept an offer or invitation, or a formal request:
They offered me the job but I turned it down.
The board turned down a request for $25,000 to sponsor an art exhibition.
I’ve already been turned down by three colleges.
reject to refuse to accept an idea, offer, suggestion, or plan:
They rejected the idea because it would cost too much money.
The Senate rejected a proposal to limit the program to two years.
decline formal to politely refuse to accept an offer or invitation, or refuse to do something:
She has declined all offers of help.
A palace spokesman declined to comment on the rumours.
deny to refuse to allow someone to do something or enter somewhere:
They were denied permission to publish the book.
He was denied access to the US.
veto to officially refuse to allow a law or plan, or to refuse to accept someone’s suggestion:
Congress vetoed the bill.
The suggestion was quickly vetoed by the other members of the team.
disallow to officially refuse to accept something because someone has broken the rules, or not done it in the correct way:
The goal was disallowed by the referee.
The court decided to disallow his evidence.
rebuff formal to refuse to accept someone’s offer, request, or suggestion:
The company raised its offer to $6 billion, but was rebuffed.
He was politely rebuffed when he suggested holding the show in Dublin.
give somebody/something the thumbs down informal to refuse to allow or accept a plan or suggestion:
The plan was given the thumbs down by the local authority.
They gave us the thumbs down.
rubbish especially British English things that people throw away, such as old food, dirty paper etc:
People are being encouraged to recycle their household rubbish.
the rubbish bin
garbage/trash American English rubbish:
The garbage is collected every Tuesday.
There were piles of trash in the backyard.
a black plastic garbage bag
litter empty bottles, pieces of paper etc that people have dropped on the ground:
Parents should teach children not to drop litter.
There was a lot of litter on the beach.
waste rubbish, or materials that need to be dealt with after they have been used in industrial processes:
nuclear waste
toxic waste
household waste
The company was fined for dumping toxic waste in the sea.

[TahlilGaran] English Thesaurus ▲