terminal decline
Unstoppable downward spiral
Terminal decline describes the final, irreversible deterioration before death or complete failure.
Originally a medical and psychological term for the accelerated cognitive and physical decline observed in the last years of life, it now applies broadly to institutions, industries, or systems past the point of recovery: The shopping mall is in terminal decline, a civilization in terminal decline.
The adjective terminal emphasizes that no reversal is possible.
- dyingCeasing to live
- death spiralSelf-worsening loop toward ruin
- circling the drainApproaching inevitable end
- decayGradual organic breakdown
- fadingGradual loss of intensity
withering · past its prime · going downhill · collapse · deterioration · end-stage · twilight · slow death · wasting · downfall · demise · crumbling · point of no return · irreversible · hospice · final · final chapter · sunset
- extinctionmass extinction, dodo, extinct, extinction event, extinction rate
- body metaphorsbackbone, blind spot, gut feeling, headache, heartbeat
- declinedecrease, downswing, diminish, deterioration, degeneration
- dyingdying, expiring, passing, passing away, perishing
terminal declineascent
Upward movement
resurgence · rise · upswing · rapid growth · ascendancy
terminal declinerecovery
Regaining what was lost
revival · turnaround · comeback · rebound · regeneration
terminal declinerobust health
Excellent physical condition
prime · full bloom · flourishing · thriving · golden age
terminal, decline, term, terms, termed, terming, terminable, terminate, terminated