decline

decline — verb

1. to become smaller in size, amount, or value over a period of time, or to move to

1.verbintransitiveB2
Definition

to become smaller in size, amount, or value over a period of time, or to move to a lower level of quality or strength.

Example

The company's profits declined sharply after the new competitor entered the market.

decline + adverb of degree (sharply)

Yan's health began to decline after she turned eighty.

Common collocations
  • decline sharply
  • decline steadily
  • decline gradually
  • decline rapidly
  • decline in value
  • decline in quality
Synonyms
  • decrease

    more neutral and factual; works for numbers and amounts but not typically for health or quality

  • deteriorate

    stronger negative tone, used mainly for quality or condition getting worse

  • drop

    faster and often more sudden than 'decline'; can describe a one-time event

  • fall

    similar to 'drop' but often used for prices, temperatures, or values

Antonyms
  • increase

    general opposite — becoming greater in amount or size

  • improve

    opposite in the quality or health sense

Grammar Patterns

decline + adverb

decline + in + noun

Usage Note

Commonly used with adverbs describing speed or degree, such as 'sharply,' 'steadily,' 'gradually,' and 'rapidly.' The subject is typically a measurable thing (profits, quality, health, temperature) rather than a person acting deliberately.

Common Mistakes

The temperature declined by 5 degrees this morning.
The temperature dropped by 5 degrees this morning.
'Decline' suggests a gradual downward trend over time, not a single sudden change.
Sales of the product are declining down.
Sales of the product are declining.
'Decline' already contains the idea of downward movement; adding 'down' is redundant.

2. to politely say that you will not accept an invitation, offer, or suggestion mad

2.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

to politely say that you will not accept an invitation, offer, or suggestion made to you.

Example

Megan declined the invitation to the conference because of a prior commitment.

decline + invitation / offer / request

When offered a second slice of cake, Selim politely declined.

intransitive use: politely decline

Common collocations
  • decline an invitation
  • decline an offer
  • decline a request
  • decline to comment
  • politely decline
  • decline a promotion
Synonyms
  • refuse

    stronger and less polite than 'decline'; suits demands and commands

  • turn down

    less formal than 'decline'; common in everyday spoken English

  • say no to

    informal and direct; used in casual conversation

Antonyms
  • accept

    to agree to take an offer or invitation

  • agree

    to say yes to a suggestion or proposal

Grammar Patterns

decline + noun phrase (offer/invitation)

decline to + infinitive

Usage Note

More polite and formal than 'refuse.' Appropriate for invitations, offers, and requests in both social and professional contexts. The construction 'decline to + infinitive' is common for refusing to act or speak, especially in journalism ('declined to comment').

Common Mistakes

He declined the allegations strongly.
He denied the allegations strongly.
'Decline' means to say no to an offer or invitation; 'deny' means to say something is not true.
She declined to come with us because she was angry.
She refused to come with us because she was angry.
'Refuse' is stronger and suits emotional situations better; 'decline' is too formal for everyday disagreements.
He declined the command.
He refused / disobeyed the command.
'Decline' is too soft for orders and commands; use 'refuse' or 'disobey.'

3. (in grammar) to list or produce the set of forms that a word takes as its role i

3.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

(in grammar) to list or produce the set of forms that a word takes as its role in a sentence changes — for instance, when a noun switches from subject to object, or from singular to plural.

Example

In Latin class, students must learn to decline nouns in five different cases.

decline + noun / pronoun / adjective

Mr. Kim asked the class to decline the adjective 'bonus' for homework.

Common collocations
  • decline a noun
  • decline a pronoun
  • decline an adjective
  • decline in cases
  • decline by gender
Synonyms
  • inflect

    broader term covering any grammatical change in form

  • conjugate

    specifically for verbs — a common point of confusion with 'decline'

Grammar Patterns

decline + noun (noun/pronoun/adjective)

noun declines

Usage Note

Frequently used in the passive: 'Latin nouns are declined in five cases.' This sense is technical and appears mainly in linguistics textbooks, language classes, and grammar discussions. Distinguish from sense 1 — here the change is in grammatical form, not in quantity or quality.

Common Mistakes

In English, the verb 'run' declines into 'ran' and 'run.
In English, the verb 'run' conjugates into 'ran' and 'run.
'Decline' is for nouns, pronouns, and adjectives; 'conjugate' is the correct term for verbs.

decline — noun

Word family

  • declining
    adjectiveB2
  • declination
    nounC1
  • declinable
    adjectiveC1
  • indeclinable
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe a movement downward, but they differ in speed, scope, and tone. 'Decrease' is the most neutral and factual — used for numbers, amounts, and statistics without emotional coloring ('The population decreased by 2%'). 'Drop' and 'fall' suggest a faster, more sudden movement and are often used for prices, temperatures, or values ('Stock prices fell sharply after the announcement'). 'Deteriorate' focuses specifically on quality or condition getting worse and carries a stronger negative tone ('Relations between the two countries deteriorated'). 'Decline' sits in the middle — it is more gradual than 'drop' or 'fall,' less emotionally charged than 'deteriorate,' and more natural than 'decrease' when talking about health, quality, or the fading of something over time. For a concrete comparison: 'The company's profits decreased slightly last quarter' (neutral fact about numbers), versus 'The company's profits declined steadily over three years' (ongoing process with a negative trend line).

decrease ↗drop ↗fall ↗deteriorate ↗

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • in decline
  • on the decline
  • decline and fall

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinFrenchEnglish

The word 'decline' entered Middle English from Old French 'decliner,' which came from Latin 'declinare' — a combination of 'de-' (down, away) and 'clinare' (to bend, to lean). The original Latin sense was physical: to bend or lean downward. By the 15th century it was used figuratively for moral or social 'bending' toward a worse state. The polite refusal sense (1500s) developed from the idea of 'turning aside' from an offer. The grammar sense — the only non-physical meaning to survive from Latin unchanged — follows the metaphor of 'bending' or 'leaning' a word through its various case forms. All modern meanings trace back to this single core image of something bending away from its original position.