decline
Gradual downward trend
Decline is movement downward or away from a peak.
A civilization declines, health declines, prices decline.
To decline an invitation or offer is to turn it down: She declined to comment.
As a noun, decline names the downward trend itself: the decline of the Roman Empire, a decline in sales.
In grammar, to decline a noun or adjective is to list its inflected forms—cases, genders, numbers.
To make smaller
- dwindleDecrease gradually over time
- lessenReduce in degree
- reduceMake smaller in degree
- shrinkDecrease in size
drop · fall · subside · taper · wane · ebb · contract · abate
Gradual organic breakdown
- degradationDecline in condition
- erosionGradual wearing away
- worseningBecoming more severe
- degenerationProgressive loss of function
atrophy · withering · rot · corrosion · crumble · disintegration · senescence · entropy
Sudden loss of power
- fallDescend under gravity
- ruinComplete destruction or collapse
- failureLack of success
- demiseCessation of existence
crash · disintegration · bankruptcy · overthrow · defeat · capitulation · destruction · undoing
Prolonged economic decline
- depressionProlonged low state
- downturnEconomic decline period
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
- contractionReduction in size
bear market · austerity · unemployment · deflation · bust · credit crunch · layoffs · insolvency
diminish
To make smaller
shrink · drop · fall · subside · taper · wane · ebb · contract · abate · recede
decay
Gradual organic breakdown
- degradationDecline in condition
- erosionGradual wearing away
- worseningBecoming more severe
degeneration · atrophy · withering · rot · corrosion · crumble · disintegration · senescence · entropy · blight
reject
Dismiss as unsuitable
spurn · turn down · pass · demur · abstain · withhold · veto · disallow · nix · dismiss
downfall
Sudden loss of power
demise · crash · disintegration · bankruptcy · overthrow · defeat · capitulation · destruction · undoing · catastrophe
recession
Prolonged economic decline
- depressionProlonged low state
- downturnEconomic decline period
- stagnationAbsence of flow or progress
contraction · bear market · austerity · unemployment · deflation · bust · credit crunch · layoffs · insolvency · hardship
gradient
Rate of change across space
slope · declivity · drop · hillside · downgrade · escarpment · dip · slant · downhill · mountainside
- historyancient civilizations, past events, historian, epochs, era
- verbsjump, be, speak, wait, do
- conservationconservation, wildlife, endangered, habitat, sanctuary
- empireempire, emperor, empress, imperial, imperial regalia
- history termsempire, dynasty, colonialism, Renaissance, Enlightenment
- abstinencesobriety, celibacy, chastity, teetotalism, fasting
- in declineGradually getting worse
- decline and fallGradual loss then collapse
- on the decline
- moral declineErosion of ethical standards
- gradual declineSlow downward trend
- mental decline