recession

recession — noun

1. a period, typically lasting several months or longer, during which an economy sh

1.nounB2
Definition

a period, typically lasting several months or longer, during which an economy shrinks, companies produce and sell less, unemployment rises, and overall business activity slows down significantly.

Example

The country fell into a deep recession after the banking crisis of 2008.

collocation: fall into [a] recession

During the recession, Haruto's company laid off nearly half its workers.

Common collocations
  • deep recession
  • severe recession
  • fall into recession
  • push into recession
  • emerge from recession
  • economic recession
  • global recession
  • recession fears
Synonyms
  • depression

    much more severe and long-lasting than a recession; used historically for the 1930s Great Depression

  • downturn

    a milder, less formal term for a decline in economic activity; may be shorter or less deep

  • slump

    a sharp, sudden fall in economic performance; more informal than recession

  • contraction

    a technical term for a reduction in economic output, used in formal economic reports

Antonyms
  • expansion

    the phase of the business cycle in which the economy grows

  • boom

    a period of very strong economic growth and high activity

  • recovery

    the process of returning to normal levels after a recession has ended

Usage Note

Distinguish from depression: a recession is a moderate economic decline lasting months to a couple of years, whereas a depression is a far more severe and prolonged downturn (e.g. the Great Depression of the 1930s). Economists often use a working guideline of two consecutive quarters of negative GDP growth as an indicator, though official declarations come from national authorities.

Common Mistakes

The country is in a big recession.
The country is in a deep / severe recession.
'deep' and 'severe' are the standard collocations, not 'big'.
Many people lost work during the financial crisis recession.
The financial crisis caused a recession that led to widespread job losses.
Avoid using 'recession' as a vague label for any bad economic event; state what happened.

2. the act of moving away, drawing back, or becoming more distant relative to where

2.nounC1
Definition

the act of moving away, drawing back, or becoming more distant relative to where something once was — for example, a glacier shrinking, a hairline retreating, or floodwaters subsiding.

Example

Scientists measured the steady recession of the glacier over three decades.

collocation: recession of [glacier / ice sheet]

The slow recession of the floodwaters revealed the damage left behind.

Common collocations
  • glacial recession
  • recession of floodwaters
  • hairline recession
  • recession of the tide
Synonyms
  • retreat

    implies an active, often strategic moving back, especially in military contexts

  • withdrawal

    suggests a deliberate pulling back from a position, common in military or political usage

  • receding

    the gerund form of 'recede'; used for gradual physical movement (e.g. receding floodwaters)

Antonyms
  • advance

    movement forward or toward a target

  • progress

    forward movement, often implying improvement or development

Usage Note

This sense is far less common than the economic meaning and appears mainly in formal, technical, or scientific writing. It often describes natural processes (glacial recession, coastal erosion), physical changes (hairline recession), or strategic military movement. Do not confuse with the medical term 'tissue recession' (a separate, specialized meaning).

Common Mistakes

The recession of the army surprised everyone.' (confusing with economic sense)
The army's strategic withdrawal surprised everyone.
For military contexts, 'withdrawal' or 'retreat' is more natural than 'recession'.

Word family

  • recess
    nounC1
  • recess
    verbC2
  • recede
    verbB2
  • recessionary
    adjectiveC1
  • recessive
    adjectiveC2

Synonym discussion

Sense: noun/1

Recession, depression, downturn, and slump all describe periods of weak economic activity, but they differ in severity, formality, and duration. A recession is the standard term for a moderate decline lasting months to a couple of years — it is the most neutral and widely used in news and official reports. A depression is far more severe, with a prolonged collapse in output and employment that can last a decade; the term is reserved for historical catastrophes like the Great Depression. Downturn is the mildest and most informal of the four — it can describe any short-term negative shift, even a single bad quarter, without implying a technical recession. Slump suggests a sudden, sharp fall, often in a particular sector (e.g. a housing slump), and carries a slightly dramatic tone. Compare: 'After a brief downturn in sales, the company recovered quickly' — but 'During the recession, the entire region lost jobs' — and 'The Great Depression forced millions into poverty for over a decade.'

recession ↗depression ↗downturnslump

Common collocations

Nouns

Adverbs

Phrases

  • fall into recession
  • emerge from recession
  • tip into recession
  • double-dip recession
  • technical recession

Prepositions

Etymology

LatinEnglish

Recession entered English in the mid-1600s via Latin 'recessus', meaning 'a going back.' The Latin noun comes from 'recedere' — formed from 're-' ('back') and 'cedere' ('to go, yield'). Its original sense was a physical retreat or withdrawal. The modern economic meaning, referring to a general decline in business activity, dates from the early 20th century, and became standard during the Great Depression as a less alarming alternative to 'depression.'