verb / noun · academic
decrease
/dɪˈkriːs/de·CREASE
task1speaking
to become smaller in amount or number; an instance of this
Examples
“Air pollution levels decreased after the factory closed.”
“”
“”
Band 8 sentence
“Overall energy consumption decreased gradually, with the most pronounced drop occurring after 2012 when efficiency policies took effect.”
Collocations
- decrease by
- a steady/rapid decrease in
- decrease to
Word family
decrease noundecrease verbdecreasing adjective / gerund
Common mistakes
The temperature decreased with 2 degrees.→The temperature decreased by 2 degrees.
There are decreases in number of students.→There are decreases in the number of students.
Say it for a higher band
5go down→6fall→7+decrease
Synonyms
fall
decline
Easily confused
fall
“House prices fell by 6% last year.”
Related words
Learn this word with the rest of its set, and get reminded at the right time.
In Overall trends
Learn it with its set