decrease
B2Formal and neutral; common across all registers from academic to everyday use.
Definition
Meaning
To become or make something smaller or fewer in size, amount, intensity, or degree.
Also refers to the process or result of diminishing, the amount by which something lessens, and, metaphorically, to a decline or reduction in influence, popularity, or quality.
Linguistics
Semantic Notes
As a verb, it can be both transitive and intransitive. The stress pattern changes with part of speech: DE-crease (noun) vs. de-CREASE (verb). The concept is scalar, implying a measurable change from a higher to a lower level.
Dialectal Variation
British vs American Usage
Differences
No significant difference in meaning or usage. Both varieties use the same stress pattern distinction between noun and verb. Slight preference for 'go down' or 'drop' in more informal American contexts.
Connotations
Neutral in both. Slightly more formal than synonyms like 'drop' or 'go down'.
Frequency
Very high and roughly equal frequency in both varieties; a core vocabulary item.
Vocabulary
Collocations
Grammar
Valency Patterns
[NP] decreases (intransitive)[NP1] decreases [NP2] (transitive)decrease in [NP]decrease from [X] to [Y]decrease by [amount/percentage]Vocabulary
Synonyms
Strong
Neutral
Weak
Vocabulary
Antonyms
Phrases
Idioms & Phrases
- “on the decrease”
Usage
Context Usage
Business
Used for profits, costs, sales, demand, turnover (e.g., 'We need to decrease overheads by 10%').
Academic
Common in describing trends, statistical data, and experimental results (e.g., 'The intervention showed a decrease in symptoms').
Everyday
Used for temperature, speed, noise, pain, prices, and personal habits (e.g., 'I'm trying to decrease my sugar intake').
Technical
Used in science, engineering, and medicine for measurable parameters like pressure, volume, density, or cell count.
Examples
By Part of Speech
noun
British English
- There has been a noticeable decrease in high street footfall.
- The data shows a decrease of 15% in reported cases.
American English
- We're seeing a steady decrease in unemployment rates.
- Any decrease in funding will impact the program's reach.
verb
British English
- The council hopes traffic will decrease once the bypass is built.
- They decided to decrease the dosage of the medication gradually.
American English
- Temperatures are expected to decrease sharply overnight.
- The company plans to decrease its carbon footprint by 25%.
Examples
By CEFR Level
- My weight decreased when I started walking to school.
- There was a small decrease in the price of milk.
- The government wants to decrease pollution in city centres.
- A significant decrease in student numbers forced the class to close.
- If demand decreases, suppliers are forced to lower their prices.
- The report highlighted a sharp decrease in biodiversity over the last decade.
- The medication's efficacy decreases exponentially after the first hour.
- Counterintuitively, the tax decrease did not stimulate consumer spending as predicted.
Learning
Memory Aids
Mnemonic
Think of the 'cre' in 'decrease' as related to 'grow' (crescendo). The prefix 'de-' means 'down' or 'away from'. So, 'decrease' is moving away from growth, going down.
Conceptual Metaphor
QUANTITY/AMOUNT IS VERTICAL ELEVATION (e.g., 'Profits decreased', 'Numbers are falling'). LESS IS DOWN; MORE IS UP.
Watch out
Common Pitfalls
Translation Traps (for Russian speakers)
- Avoid using 'degrade' (деградировать) for a simple numerical decrease. 'Decrease' is neutral, while 'degrade' implies a loss of quality or status.
- Do not confuse with 'reduce' (снижать) in all contexts. 'Reduce' is always transitive, while 'decrease' can be intransitive.
- The noun 'decrease' (спад, снижение) is countable: 'a sharp decrease', not 'sharp decrease'.
Common Mistakes
- Incorrect stress: saying 'DE-crease' for the verb. *'We need to DE-crease spending.' (Correct: de-CREASE)
- Using as only transitive: *'The population was decreased.' (Often better as intransitive: 'The population decreased.')
- Overuse in informal speech where 'go down' or 'drop' might be more natural.
Practice
Quiz
Which sentence uses 'decrease' with the correct word stress for its part of speech?
FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions
It is neutral but leans slightly formal. In very informal speech, people often use 'go down', 'drop', or 'cut'.
Meaning is very similar. Key difference: 'Reduce' is almost always transitive (reduce something). 'Decrease' can be both transitive (decrease something) and intransitive (something decreases).
The noun has stress on the first syllable: DE-crease. The verb has stress on the second syllable: de-CREASE. This is a common pattern in English (e.g., RE-cord vs. re-CORD).
Yes. 'Decrease to' indicates the final level (decreased to £10). 'Decrease by' indicates the amount of change (decreased by £5).