Theme music by Joshua Stamper ©2006 New Jerusalem Music/ASCAP
a noticeable declension of the fitness of the baseball players over the winter
a declension in her acting career from leading roles to cameos eventually
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'declension.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Declension came into English (via Middle French) in the first half of the 15th century, originating in the Latin verb declinare, meaning "to inflect" or "to turn aside." The word seems to have whiled away its time in the narrow field of grammar until Shakespeare put a new sense of the word in his play Richard III in 1593: "A beauty-waning and distressed widow / … Seduc'd the pitch and height of his degree / To base declension and loath'd bigamy." This "deterioration" sense led within a few decades to the newest sense of the word still in common use, "descent" or "slope." The 19th century saw still another new sense of the word—meaning "a courteous refusal"—but that sense has remained quite rare.
decadence, declination, decline, degeneracy, degeneration, degradation, descent, deterioration, devolution, downfall, downgrade, ebb, eclipse, fall;
advancement, development, evolution, growth;
blossoming, flourishing, flowering;
renewal, restoration, revitalization;
accretion, accrual, addendum, addition, augmentation, boost, enhancement, gain, increase, increment, raise, supplement;
breakup, crumbling, decomposition, disintegration, dissolution;
decimation, demolishment, demolition, desolation, destruction, havoc, ruin, ruination;
abatement, decrease, decrement, de-escalation, deflation, diminishment, diminution, dip, downslide, downtrend, downturn, drop, drop-off, falloff, loss, lowering, reduction, sag, shrinkage, slip, slump;
See words that rhyme with declension Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for declension Britannica English: Translation of declension for Arabic speakers Britannica.com: Encyclopedia article about declension
What made you want to look up declension? Please tell us where you read or heard it (including the quote, if possible).
Difficult Spelling Words Quiz
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
TAKE THE QUIZ
Test Your Knowledge - and learn some interesting things along the way.
TAKE THE QUIZ
Can you spell these 15 tricky spelling words?
Take the quiz
Do you know these words that come from names?
Take the quiz
Can you spell these 10 commonly misspelled words?
Take the quiz
Do you know the person or title these quotes describe?
Play the game
