decrease

verb de·crease \ di-ˈkrēs , ˈdē-ˌ \

Definition of decrease

decreased; decreasing

intransitive verb

:to grow progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity)

Yearly sales decreased by five percent.

His little remaining strength had been decreasing rapidly for two or three days preceding …
—Charles Dickens

transitive verb

:to cause to decrease

decrease the risk of heart disease

trying to decrease our use of fossil fuels

—

decreasingly

play \di-ˈkrē-siŋ-lē, dē-\ adverb

See decrease defined for English-language learners

See decrease defined for kids

Examples of decrease in a Sentence

Sales decreased by five percent this year.
The driver decreased her speed as she approached the curve.
These changes will decrease our expenses.

Recent Examples of decrease from the Web

The 2005 study also found that bedtime resistance had been decreasing over time.

— cari romm, The Cut, "It’s Fine If Your Kid Doesn’t Want to Stick to a Bedtime," 18 July 2017
On today’s agenda is approval of a potentially historic new policy intended to decrease the high number of LAPD shootings.

— joe domanick, Los Angeles Magazine, "How the Police Commission Got the LAPD to Buy Into De-Escalation," 13 July 2017
As the technology has improved, though, latency has decreased, minimising the risk of nausea.

— The Economist, "Amusement parksVirtual reality gives old fairground rides new purpose," 13 July 2017
Under President Donald Trump, U.S. authorities have sought to ramp up immigration enforcement and decrease the number of refugees.

— Washington Post, "More families fleeing Central America resettling in Mexico," 5 July 2017
Nine months after her surgery, her pain decreased to a manageable level.

— sandra g. boodman, Washington Post, "Arthritis surgery sounded like a breeze. So why was she in more pain?," 1 July 2017
Money in the budget would decrease the waiting list by about 900 students in 2017-18.

— joseph o’sullivan, The Seattle Times, "Budget deal: ‘Seattle and King County end up paying a significantly larger bill here’," 30 June 2017
Meanwhile, the strike range from carriers has decreased.

— lisa fleisher, Bloomberg.com, "China’s Building Enough Batteries For Millions of Cars," 30 June 2017
In Jefferson County, the percentage of the population living in a food desert has decreased since then — falling from 8.3 percent in 2010 to 6.1 percent in 2015, according to Healthy Louisville.

— bailey loosemore, The Courier-Journal, "'Left behind': How Louisville and nonprofits are trying to put an end to food deserts," 20 June 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'decrease.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Origin and Etymology of decrease

Middle English decreessen, from Anglo-French decrestre, from Latin decrescere, from de- + crescere to grow — more at crescent

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

decrease Synonyms

Synonyms

abate, de-escalate, dent, deplete, diminish, downscale, downsize, drop, dwindle, ease, knock down, lessen, lower, reduce

Antonyms

aggrandize, amplify, augment, boost, enlarge, escalate, expand, increase, raise

Related Words

compress, condense, constrict, contract; abbreviate, abridge, clip, crop, curtail, cut, cut back, cut down, dock, nick, pare, prune, retrench, shorten, slash, trim, truncate, whittle; deflate, shrink; minimize; moderate, modify, modulate, qualify

Near Antonyms

blow up, dilate, distend, inflate, swell; elongate, extend, lengthen, prolong, protract; add (to), complement, supplement; enhance, heighten, intensify; redouble

Synonym Discussion of decrease

decrease, lessen, diminish, reduce, abate, dwindle mean to grow or make less. decrease suggests a progressive decline in size, amount, numbers, or intensity.

- slowly decreased the amount of pressure

lessen suggests a decline in amount rather than in number.

- has been unable to lessen her debt

diminish emphasizes a perceptible loss and implies its subtraction from a total.

- his visual acuity has diminished

reduce implies a bringing down or lowering.

- you must reduce your caloric intake

abate implies a reducing of something excessive or oppressive in force or amount.

- the storm abated

dwindle implies progressive lessening and is applied to things growing visibly smaller.

- their provisions dwindled slowly

Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

decrease

noun de·crease \ ˈdē-ˌkrēs , di-ˈ \

Definition of decrease

1 :the process of growing progressively less (as in size, amount, number, or intensity) :the process of decreasing

a decrease in productivity

2 :an amount of diminution :reduction

a decrease of 20,000

saw a 20% decrease in violent crime

See decrease defined for English-language learners

Examples of decrease in a Sentence

Studies report a recent decrease in traffic accidents.
Because of the injury, some decrease in mobility is to be expected.
a decrease of three dollars

Recent Examples of decrease from the Web

There were decreases in most types of crimes in Rancho Bernardo during the first half of this year, but small increases in aggravated assaults, thefts and car prowls.

— elizabeth marie himchak, Rancho Bernardo, "Rancho Bernardo crime trends show improvement," 17 Aug. 2017
Also of note, the study reported that San Diego has had decreases in homelessness at times when rent increased, an indication that the region may be doing a good job of serving the population.

— gary warth, sandiegouniontribune.com, "San Diego vastly undercounts homeless, study says," 13 Aug. 2017
Yanay began his talk remarking that while people have doubled life expectancy in the last 150 years, there is a significant decrease in quality of life as people age.

— sergio carmona, Jewish Journal, "Americans For a Safe Israel sponsors Israeli speaker events in Miami Beach," 3 Aug. 2017
Château des Palmiers, St. Martin President Trump put this walled Caribbean compound on the market this spring with a reported listing price of $28 million, but the price was recently dropped to $16.9 million—a decrease of more than $11 million.

— sam dangremond, Town & Country, "All of Donald Trump's Houses, in Photos," 2 Aug. 2017
The league-wide fan attendance average is 6,922, roughly a 9.5 percent decrease since 2016.

— shannon ryan, chicagotribune.com, "Sky owner battling odds trying to develop successful WNBA model," 7 July 2017
That's a decrease for boys from about 157,000 and an increase for girls from about 69,000 during the 2008-09 school year.

— frank vaisvilas, Daily Southtown, "Event ahead of LPGA tourney offers girls a stroke of confidence," 5 July 2017
The hospital reported an 8 percent decrease in the number of surgical procedures in 2015.

— maria cheng, The Seattle Times, "‘Pope’s hospital’ put children at risk as it chased profits," 3 July 2017
Most migrants who arrive at the shelter are single men, and in interviews migrants mentioned that President Trump’s threat of separating women from their children had led to a decrease in migration by those groups.

— alice driver, Longreads, "Father of Migrants," 30 June 2017

Origin and Etymology of decrease

see ¹decrease

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 14th century

See Words from the same year

decrease Synonyms

Synonyms

abatement, decline, decrement, dent, depletion, depression, diminishment, diminution, drop, drop-off, fall, falloff, loss, reduction, shrinkage, step-down

Antonyms

boost, enlargement, gain, increase, increment, raise, rise, step-up, uptick

Related Words

deduction, subtraction; downturn, slip, slump; curtailment, cut, cutback, retrenchment, shortening

Near Antonyms

accretion, accrual, accumulation, addition, supplement; continuation, extension; upswing, uptrend, upturn

Other Mathematics and Statistics Terms

abscissa, denominator, divisor, equilateral, exponent, hypotenuse, logarithm, oblique, radii, rhomb

DECREASE Defined for English Language Learners

decrease

verb

Definition of decrease for English Language Learners

: to become smaller in size, amount, number, etc.
: to make (something) smaller in size, amount, number, etc.

decrease

noun

Definition of decrease for English Language Learners

: the act of becoming smaller or of making something smaller in size, amount, number, etc.
: the amount by which something is made smaller

DECREASE Defined for Kids

decrease

verb de·crease \ di-ˈkrēs \

Definition of decrease for Students

decreased; decreasing

:to grow less or cause to grow less The numbers of students decreased.

Word Root of decrease

The Latin word crēscere, meaning “to grow,” gives us the root cresc or cre. Words from the Latin crēscere have something to do with growing. To increase is to grow greater in size or amount. To decrease is to grow smaller in size or amount. A crescendo in music is when the volume slowly grows louder.