There are numerous words in English that basically mean "less" or "decrease." These words can be used in a variety of contexts, such as in a business presentation, a science researcher chalk talk, a business report, a social science seminar, a TOEFL Speaking section response, or an IELTS essay. You can click on any word to jump down and receive a clear definition, example sentences, and often a colorful visual aid to help you remember the word better!
You can also find a list of useful words meaning "more" or "increase" here.
If you would like get more practice using these words and receive professional feedback to check whether you are applying them correctly, you can email me at contact@englishtutordia.com to schedule your first free online consultation.
decline - to decrease
May also be used as a noun.
verb
- The U.S. trade deficit declined to $99.02 billion in the second quarter.
- The company’s stock declined 1.75% while stock markets rallied.
- Total emissions of CFCs declined by two-thirds between 2008 and 2014.
noun
- A decline in atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) levers led to a major shift in the Earth’s climate system around a million years ago, according to the new research led by Stanford University.
- U.S. coal power has been on a steady decline over the past ten years.
- A decline in the expression of the nuclear receptor REV-ERB is known to lead to myoblast differentiation.
slump - to decrease significantly
- The shares of the oil and gas company slumped by -42.33% over the past year.
- U.S. stocks slumped on Tuesday with the NYSE closing .9% down as investors continued to worry about whether the national tax bill would pass.
- The Florida State Retail Council said shopping activity is slumping, following a rise in living costs and stagnant wages.
shrink - to decrease, by a great degree
- Construction activity in the region shrank 1.4%.
- The prices of apartments in the city shrank by 16% between 2008 and 2010.
- Digital music download sales have shrunk over the past four years while streaming revenue has grown.
sink - to go down, decrease, often to decrease quickly and greatly
- The stock for the California electric company sunk over 10% after wildfires engulfed the state.
- The health plans’ underwriting margins also sunk to 1.8% on average in 2015 from 3.9% in 2010.
- Satellite images indicate that the skyscraper has sunk more than 1.5 inches over a one-year period.
dip - to decrease slightly
- Los Angeles home prices dipped to $575,000 in September.
- The medical device company’s stock dipped by 3% over the past quarter.
- E-book sales are dipping as print book sales are experiencing a comeback.
fall - to decrease
- Bookstore sales fell 4.3% in September compared to September of last year, according to estimates released by the U.S. Census Bureau this morning.
- Orders for machine tools fell last month for the first time since April.
- The shares for the company have fallen from $21.55 to $9.27 over the past quarter.
slip - to decrease by a small amount
- Apple’s mobile market share slipped by over 7 percent last month.
- The dollar slipped to a ten-day low against the dirham.
- The average price of almonds slipped by 3.2% as worldwide supply grew 4.5% over the past year.
drop - to decrease, often to significant degree.
"Drop" may be also be used as a noun.
verb
- Property crimes in Ashland dropped by 18% over the past year.
- Online fraud dropped by over 30 percent during the winter holiday shopping period.
- Major airlines are dropping prices to undercut the competition.
noun
- An abundance of inventory and reduced demand have contributed to a 2% drop in the prices of Manhattan luxury real estate.
- Almond milk prices have experienced a 3.2% drop over the past three years.
- Crosswinds Holding Inc. released first quarter earnings on Tuesday that showed a big drop in profit compared to a year ago.
tumble - to decrease quickly and significantly
- Campbell Soup company had a rough trading day for Wednesday, December 13 as shares tumbled 8.24% to close at $9.88.
- Oracle’s net income tumbled 15% to $1.6 billion last quarter.
- Despite the fast pace of development of downtown Riverside, office rents are tumbling as vacancy rates remain high.
plummet - to decrease quickly
- The company’s annual operating revenue plummeted from $50 million to $9 million over just two years.
- Best Buy’s stock plummeted after the firing of the second CEO this year was announced.
- Cigarette sales are plummeting after the introduction of a higher tax on each pack sold.
descend - to go downward, to decrease
- The company’s shares have descended 2.3% while the industry experienced growth of .04% during this time frame.
- Service fees descended 5% annually.
- The Dow Jones industrial average descended 56. 7 points by lunch hour to 22,961.45.
dwindle - to decrease, often to near or total disappearance
- The market value of gold has dwindled as more people appreciate the value of public water utility stocks instead.
- The number of apartments with rents above $3,000 has dwindled while demand for rentals at half that price has skyrocketed.
- By the end of the 7-hour city hall meeting, the attendees dwindled to just eight people.
reduce - to make less
- The city decided to reduce the fare for passengers under 13 years old.
- Five months after instituting the new policy, mistakes in drug orders were reduced by over 65 percent.
- The company is reducing the amount of sugar in its most popular cereal.
wane - to decrease somewhat slowly, to fade away
- Outbreaks of the disease waned significantly since the early 1970s since the introduction of the national healthcare policy.
- Demand for SUVs has waned while small cars have become more popular.
- The digital music platform’s user base and cash flow are waning, having lost $32 million last year.
ebb - to decrease quickly
- Consumer spending ebbed in April, as more people are choosing to save their money to buy more products in the summer.
- Support for the bill ebbed early last year in the House of Representatives, due to the Congressional Budget Office finding that implementing the bill would cost $3 billion.
- The researchers found that once the membrane repair was finished, the Acetyl-Coenzyme A enzymes ebbed away.
