1
as in deterioration
a gradual sinking and wasting away of mind or body
a noticeable declension of the fitness of the baseball players over the winter
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in declination
a change to a lower state or level
a declension in her acting career from leading roles to cameos eventually
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in downhill
a downward slope
from this region to the seacoast there's a gentle declension of the landscape
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of declension
That’s the whole exhibition, and anyone who was expecting this to be a Netflix declension of the Degenerate Art Show, with poor patriarchal Picasso as ritualized scapegoat, can rest easy.
—
Jason Farago, New York Times, 1 June 2023
Haidt follows the same tired declension narrative that his rhetorical forebearers did.
—Vicki Phillips, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
One time, when Joyce was memorizing Latin declension, Bill Bradley of the Knicks took notice.
—Katherine Fitzgerald, The Arizona Republic, 18 July 2021
The same time span felt faster, like an explosion rather than like a declension.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 7 June 2021
Gender plays an integral role in many languages, from nouns assigned to a specific gender to adjectives changing their declensions based on the noun being described.
—Madhvi Ramani, Smithsonian, 28 Feb. 2018
Jason Farago, New York Times, 1 June 2023
Haidt follows the same tired declension narrative that his rhetorical forebearers did.
—Vicki Phillips, Forbes, 24 Jan. 2023
One time, when Joyce was memorizing Latin declension, Bill Bradley of the Knicks took notice.
—Katherine Fitzgerald, The Arizona Republic, 18 July 2021
The same time span felt faster, like an explosion rather than like a declension.
—Adam Gopnik, The New Yorker, 7 June 2021
Gender plays an integral role in many languages, from nouns assigned to a specific gender to adjectives changing their declensions based on the noun being described.
—Madhvi Ramani, Smithsonian, 28 Feb. 2018
Recent Examples of Synonyms for declension
Noun
-
Oslo University Hospital on June 5 said Mette-Marit had been placed on a waiting list for a lung transplant after a significant deterioration in her health that likely gave her only a year left to live without the surgery.—
CNN Money,
CNN Money,
17 June 2026
-
That moment revealed profound psychiatric deterioration and human suffering.—
Justyna Rzewinski,
New York Daily News,
16 June 2026
Noun
-
The Phillies, off to an even worse start at 9-19, relieved Rob Thomson of his managerial duties Tuesday, and with Cora’s declination, named bench coach Don Mattingly interim skipper.—
Gabrielle Starr,
Boston Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
-
The declinations came as the DOJ reassigned and cut prosecutors working on environmental cases.—
Ken B. Morales,
ProPublica,
31 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
Castle has mixed up playing on and off the ball so that his downhill, slow style could come out when needed.—
Jared Weiss,
New York Times,
21 May 2026
-
The morning of the Olympic downhill race was sunny and bright.—
Becky Sullivan,
NPR,
6 May 2026
Noun
-
One of the most significant changes during Hill’s tenure was the weakening of structures designed to elevate teacher concerns to district leadership, Oreskovic said.—
Nora O'Neill,
Charlotte Observer,
19 June 2026
-
Friday, a weakening ridge and an approaching front will allow scattered showers and thunderstorms to develop.—
Lauren Bostwick,
CBS News,
9 June 2026
Noun
-
The findings indicate that bird-watching and similar hobbies may support overall brain health, though researchers stop short of saying the activity definitively halts cognitive decline.—
Hanna Wickes,
Kansas City Star,
18 June 2026
-
Earlier this year, a judge ordered the Bureau of Land Management to close roughly 2,000 miles of off highway vehicle trails in the western Mojave to reduce ongoing harm to the endangered desert tortoise, a keystone species of the local ecosystem whose numbers are in steep decline.—
Alex Wigglesworth,
Los Angeles Times,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
Blue Hole in Santa Rosa, New Mexico For an unforgettable stop on your Route 66 road trip, take a dip in the clear waters of the Blue Hole, located just off the highway in Santa Rosa.—
Elizabeth Rhodes,
Travel + Leisure,
18 June 2026
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The film then had a mere 7% dip in ticket sales in its fourth weekend domestically, and business fell 25% in weekend five — still demonstrating an incredibly strong hold for a film in its fifth week of release.—
Tim Lammers,
Forbes.com,
18 June 2026
Noun
-
The decay rate will increase as the spacecraft dips into denser layers of the atmosphere until Swift finally burns up during reentry.—
Stephen Clark,
ArsTechnica,
19 June 2026
-
The Dirty Beaches founder’s own saxophone and trumpet lead the players’ cut-and-pasted recordings down dark alleys of decay and introspection, backdropped by percussive bangs and scrapes that suggest the construction of some great, mysterious superstructure.—
Hattie Lindert,
Pitchfork,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
The building had long-term degradation from corrosion, too.—
Aaron Leibowitz,
Miami Herald,
23 June 2026
-
Researchers worldwide continue to struggle with issues such as low ionic conductivity, interface degradation, manufacturing complexity, and cost.—
Kaif Shaikh,
Interesting Engineering,
22 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Declension.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/declension. Accessed 23 Jun. 2026.
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