Dictionary Definition
decline
Noun
1 change toward something smaller or lower [syn:
diminution]
2 a condition inferior to an earlier condition; a
gradual falling off from a better state [syn: declination] [ant: improvement]
3 a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or
current [syn: decay]
4 a downward slope or bend [syn: descent, declivity, fall, declination, declension, downslope] [ant: ascent]
Verb
2 refuse to accept; "He refused my offer of
hospitality" [syn: refuse, reject, pass up, turn down]
[ant: accept]
5 go down; "The roof declines here"
7 inflect for number, gender, case, etc., "in
many languages, speakers decline nouns, pronouns, and
adjectives"
User Contributed Dictionary
English
Pronunciation
- a US /dəˈklɑɪn/
Noun
Antonyms
Translations
downward movement, fall
sloping downward
- Dutch: verval, afname, helling
- Finnish: lasku, alamäki
- German: Gefälle
- Hebrew:
- Swedish: nedförsbacke , utförsbacke , medlut
weakening
- Dutch: verzwakking, achteruitgang, verval, afname
- Finnish: lasku, heikentyminen
- German: Abnahme , Rückgang
- Hebrew:
- ttbc Catalan: declinació
- ttbc French: déclin
- ttbc Interlingua: declino
- ttbc Italian: declino
- ttbc Portuguese: declínio
- ttbc Spanish: declinación
- Volapük: klem
Verb
- To move downwards,
to fall, to drop.
- The dollar has declined rapidly since 2001.
- To become weaker or
worse.
- My health declined in winter.
- In the context of "transitive|grammar": To list the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun (and in some languages adjective) for case and number.
- To refuse.
- On reflection I think I will decline your generous offer.
Derived terms
Translations
move downwards
- Dutch: afnemen, terugvallen, achteruitgaan, vervallen
- Finnish: laskea, pudota
- German: sinken, fallen
- Hebrew: ירד
- Italian: declinare
- Old English: dreosan
weaken
- Dutch: afnemen, achteruitgaan, afzwakken, verzwakken
- Finnish: heikentyä, heiketä
- German: abnehmen, zurückgehen
- Hebrew: נחלש
inflect
- Dutch: verbuigen
- Finnish: taivuttaa
- German: deklinieren
- Hebrew: היטה
- Italian: declinare
refuse
- Dutch: afwijzen, weigeren
- Finnish: kieltäytyä
- French: refuser
- German: ablehnen
- Hebrew: דחה, סירב
- Italian: declinare
- Portuguese: recusar
- Spanish: rechazar
Romanian
Verb
declineExtensive Definition
Decline is a change over time from previously
efficient to inefficient organizational functioning, from
previously rational to non-rational organizational and individual
decision-making, from previously law-abiding to law violating
organizational and individual behavior, from previously virtuous to
iniquitous individual moral behavior.
Social decline or moral decline is typically
characterised as reduced adherence to cultural or social
norms or
values and widespread lapses in ethical behavior.
Entities and organizations may enter a state of
decline if they fail to respond effectively to changes, which may
be the result of:
- inability to recognize change in the organizational environment
- insufficient resources to respond to change in the organizational environment
- refusal to respond to change in the organizational environment because organizational leaders benefit from organizational decline
See also
- Decline of the Roman Empire
- Social disintegration
- Societal collapse
- Declension (grammatical change)
References
- Albert O. Hirschman. 1970. Exit, Voice, and Loyalty: Responses to Decline in Firms, Organizations, and States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. ISBN 0-674-27660-4 (paper).
Synonyms, Antonyms and Related Words
abate,
abatement, abjure, ablate, abstain, abstain from, age, analyze, anility, arrear, arrearage, arrears, ascend, asking price, avoid, backslide, backsliding, balk, bank, bate, be eaten away, be found
wanting, be unmoved, be unwilling, bearish prices, beat down, beg
off, bid price, boggle,
book value, bracket,
break, brush aside,
bullish prices, bypass,
cadence, caducity, call price, cant, careen, catabasis, catenary, cave, cave in, cessation, cheapen, cheapening, cheat the
undertaker, childishness, chuck, chuck out, climb, close, closing, closing price, collapse, come apart, come
down, come short, come unstuck, comedown, conjugate, conk out, consume, consume away, contemn, contradict, corrode, crash, crumble, cut, cut prices, debasement, debility, decadence, decadency, decay, deceleration, declension, declination, decline and
fall, decline to accept, declivity, decrease, decrescendo, decurrence, defalcation, default, defectiveness, deficit, deflate, deflation, deformation, degeneracy, degenerate, degenerateness, degeneration, degradation, delinquency, deliquesce, demotion, demur, deny, depravation, depravedness, depreciate, depreciation, depression, derogation, descend, descent, despise, deteriorate, deterioration, devaluate, devaluation, devitalization, devolution, die, die away, diminish, diminuendo, diminution, dip, disagree, disallow, disapprove, discard, disclaim, discount, disdain, disimprove, disintegrate, dismiss, disown, disregard, dissent, dive, dodder, dotage, dotardism, downfall, downgate, downgrade, downhill, downslide, downswing, downtrend, downturn, downward mobility,
downward trend, drift away, droop, drop, drop down, drop off, dwindle, dwindling, dying, ebb, ebbing, effeteness, erode, except, exclude, face value, fade, fading, fail, failing, failure, failure of nerve,
faint, fall, fall away, fall in price,
fall off, fall short, falling off, falling short, falling-off,
falloff, fixed price,
fizzle out, flag, flash
price, flop, flop down,
flump, flump down,
flurry, flutter, forbear, forgo, forswear, founder, gainsay, get along, get on, give
out, give way, go, go away,
go down, go downhill, go off, go soft, go to pieces, go to pot, go
uphill, grade, grow old,
hang, hanging, have a comedown,
high, hit a slump, hit rock
bottom, hit the skids, hold out against, homestretch, hyphenate, ignore, imperfection, inadequacy, incline, inferiority, inflect, insufficiency, involution, issue par, issue
price, jew down, jib,
keel, lack, lag, languish, lapse, last lap, last round, last
stage, lean, lessen, lessening, let up, list, lose ground, lose strength,
loss, loss of tone,
low, lower, lowering, mark, mark down, markdown, market price, market
value, melt away, move away, move off, negate, negative, nominal value, nose
dive, nose-dive, not answer, not buy, not consent, not hack it, not
hear of, not make it, not make out, not measure up, not stretch,
not suffice, not think of, offering price, opening price, par, par value, pare, parenthesize, parity, parse, pass by, pass up, peak, peg out, peter out, pine, pitch, plop, plop down, plummet, plummeting, plump, plunge, point, poop out, price, price cut, price fall,
price reduction, pull away, punctuate, push aside, put
price, quotation,
quoted price, rake,
rally, reach the depths,
rebuff, recant, recede, reduce, reduction, refrain, refuse, refuse consent, refuse to
consider, regression,
reject, relapse, remission, renounce, repel, reprobate, repudiate, repulse, resist entreaty, resist
persuasion, retire,
retreat, retrocede, retrocession, retrogradation, retrograde, retrogression, return, revert, rise, rot, run down, run low, run short,
sag, say nay, say no,
scout, scruple, second childhood,
senectitude, senile
debility, senile dementia, senile psychosis, senile weakness,
senilism, senility, set, settle, settle down, settling
price, shake, shave, shelve, short measure, shortage, shortcoming, shortfall, shove away,
shrink, shrivel, shy, sidle, sink, sink down, sinkage, slant, slash, slide, slip, slippage, slope, slouch, slowdown, slump, slump down, spurn, stand aloof, stand off,
stated value, stick,
stickle, stop short,
submerge, submergence, subside, subsidence, swag, sway, swings, tail off, taper off,
throw away, throw out, tilt, tip, totter, touch bottom, trim, turn away, turn down, turn
gray, turn out, turn white, underage, uprise, veto, vote nay, vote negatively,
waive, wane, waning, want, waste, waste away, weaken, weakening, weakness, wear, wear away, wear thin, widen
the distance, wilt,
withdraw, wither, wither away, wizen, worsen, worsening, wrinkle, yield