DECAYS Synonyms: 106 Similar and Opposite Words

decays

verb

present tense third-person singular of decay

as in decomposes

to go through decomposition the logs decayed on the rain forest floor the atom of plutonium decayed in the test chamber

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as in deteriorates

to become worse or of less value the restaurant's standards for food and service had decayed over the years

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as in fades

to lose bodily strength or vigor having reached her 80s, the woman could sense that her body was decaying

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Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of decays In theory, beryllium-8 normally decays into two helium-4 nuclei. —

Big Think, 19 Mar. 2026 This state then decays through a two-step cascade, releasing two photons in rapid succession. —

Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 8 Mar. 2026 But Daye naturally decays at the end of each season, unless she is rebuilt using the branches, berries, and blooms of the next. —

Literary Hub, 2 Mar. 2026 The value of the model rapidly decays if it isn't routinely retrained and recalibrated on fresh data representative of the new inputs. —

Michael Connell, Forbes.com, 5 Jan. 2026 Grief gets layered on top of grief and secrets stack sky high as suburban normalcy decays into something at once alarmingly unstable and comfortingly funny. —

Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 19 Dec. 2025 This famously happens when a quantum object is measured, but in this case, the mystery crops up when the top quark decays into lighter particles. —

Shalma Wegsman, Quanta Magazine, 25 Nov. 2025 The RTGs are mounted on a boom and use plutonium-238 oxide that slowly decays and produces heat. —

George Petras, USA Today, 25 Nov. 2025 The heartwood in the tree’s center decays first and makes for easy excavating. —

Madison Dapcevich, Outside, 21 Sep. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for decays

Verb

The research team enabled a room-temperature, four-electron chemical reaction path that forms and decomposes lithium oxide, which expands available energy storage.

— Aman Tripathi, Interesting Engineering, 3 June 2026
Organic material trapped in reservoirs accumulates and decomposes over time, releasing methane — a potent greenhouse gas that significantly contributes to global warming, Fernández-Garrido told CNN.

— Radina Gigova, CNN Money, 27 May 2026