decline

[ dih-klahyn ]

/ dɪˈklaɪn /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR decline ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

to withhold or deny consent to do, enter into or upon, etc.; refuse: He declined to say more about it.

to express inability or reluctance to accept; refuse with courtesy: to decline an invitation; to decline an offer.

to cause to slope or incline downward.

Grammar.

to inflect (a noun, pronoun, or adjective), as Latin puella, declined puella, puellae, puellae, puellam, puella in the five cases of the singular.
to recite or display all or some subset of the inflected forms of a noun, pronoun, or adjective in a fixed order.

verb (used without object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

to express courteous refusal; refuse: We sent him an invitation but he declined.

to bend or slant down; slope downward; descend: The hill declines to the lake.

(of pathways, routes, objects, etc.) to follow a downward course or path: The sun declined in the skies.

to draw toward the close, as the day.

to fail in strength, vigor, character, value, etc.; deteriorate.

to fail or dwindle; sink or fade away: to decline in popularity.

to descend, as to an unworthy level; stoop.

Grammar. to be characterized by declension.

noun

a downward slope; declivity.

a downward movement, as of prices or population; diminution: a decline in the stock market.

a failing or gradual loss, as in strength, character, power, or value; deterioration: the decline of the Roman Empire.

a gradual deterioration of the physical powers, as in later life or in disease: After his seventieth birthday he went into a decline.

progress downward or toward the close, as of the sun or the day.

the later years or last part: He became an editor in the decline of his life.

Origin of decline

1275–1325; (v.) Middle English declinen < Old French: to inflect, turn aside, sink < Latin dēclīnāre to slope, incline, bend; compare Greek klī́nein to lean¹; (noun) Middle English declin < Old French, derivative of decliner

SYNONYMS FOR decline

1 reject. See refuse¹.

9 degenerate, decay, weaken, diminish, languish.

13 hill.

15 retrogression, degeneration, enfeeblement, weakening.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR decline ON THESAURUS.COM

ANTONYMS FOR decline

6 rise.

9 improve.

SEE ANTONYMS FOR decline ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM decline

de·clin·er, noun pre·de·cline, verb (used with object), pre·de·clined, pre·de·clin·ing. re·de·cline, verb, re·de·clined, re·de·clin·ing, noun un·de·clined, adjective

un·de·clin·ing, adjective

Words nearby decline

declinable, declinate, declination, declinatory, declinature, decline, decline and fall of the roman empire, the, declinometer, declive, declivitous, declivity

Example sentences from the Web for declining

A senior Iranian official in Pakistan later confirmed the strike took place, declining to elaborate.

The Dangerous Drug-Funded Secret War Between Iran and Pakistan |Umar Farooq |December 29, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Of course, declining or stagnant wage growth started well before this president took office.

Time to Bring Back the Truman Democrats |Joel Kotkin |December 21, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Death by pills or lethal injection might be unnatural, but she believes that declining nourishment and medications is not.

The Nurse Coaching People Through Death by Starvation |Nick Tabor |November 17, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Just before the start of the season, The Wall Street Journal ran a feature on declining student attendance at games.

How The University of Wisconsin Badgers Are Bucking the Big Ten Ticket Flop |Brian Weidy |October 31, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

“We expect him to ultimately get confirmed,” the official added, declining to be named because no final strategy has been decided.

Where the Hell Is the Surgeon General? |Roland S. Martin |October 9, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
The happiness of my early days was painted to me; the disquiet of my manhood, the altered faith of my declining years.

Twice-Told Tales |Nathaniel Hawthorne
Each one of them threw down his bag of clubs, and, declining to carry them for another hole, walked sulkily off the course.

The Complete Golfer [1905] |Harry Vardon
Then, declining to take the oath of allegiance to Louis Philippe, he retired from the peerage, and gave up his pension.

The Catholic World. Volume II; Numbers 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12. |E. Rameur
He was obliged to adopt a descending scale of charges and expenditures to keep pace with his declining circulation—a fatal sign.

Mark Twain, A Biography, 1835-1910, Complete |Albert Bigelow Paine
But being both hungry and weary, we made the latter an excuse for declining their invitation.

Excursions in the mountains of Ronda and Granada, with characteristic sketches of the inhabitants of southern Spain, vol. 1/2 |Charles Rochfort Scott

British Dictionary definitions for declining

decline

/ (dɪˈklaɪn) /

verb

to refuse to do or accept (something), esp politely

(intr) to grow smaller; diminish demand has declined over the years

to slope or cause to slope downwards

(intr) to deteriorate gradually, as in quality, health, or character

grammar to state or list the inflections of (a noun, adjective, or pronoun), or (of a noun, adjective, or pronoun) to be inflected for number, case, or gender Compare conjugate (def. 1)

noun

gradual deterioration or loss

a movement downwards or towards something smaller; diminution

a downward slope; declivity

archaic any slowly progressive disease, such as tuberculosis

Derived forms of decline

declinable, adjective decliner, noun

Word Origin for decline

C14: from Old French decliner to inflect, turn away, sink, from Latin dēclīnāre to bend away, inflect grammatically

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

decline

verb (used with object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

verb (used without object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

noun

Origin of decline

SYNONYMS FOR decline

ANTONYMS FOR decline

OTHER WORDS FROM decline

Words nearby decline

Example sentences from the Web for declining

British Dictionary definitions for declining

verb

noun

Derived forms of decline

Word Origin for decline

BROWSE DICTIONARY

Learning

decline

verb (used with object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

verb (used without object), de·clined, de·clin·ing.

noun

Origin of decline

SYNONYMS FOR decline

ANTONYMS FOR decline

OTHER WORDS FROM decline

Words nearby decline

Words related to declining

Example sentences from the Web for declining

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []) .push({}); British Dictionary definitions for declining

verb

noun

Derived forms of decline

Word Origin for decline

British Dictionary definitions for declining