How to Use decline in a Sentence

decline

1 of 2 verb
  • He changed his mind and declined the company's offer.
  • The company declined comment on the scandal.
  • The construction of new houses declined five percent this year.
  • I invited him, but he declined.
  • My grandmother's health has been declining since she broke her hip.
  • The animal's numbers are declining rapidly.
  • The civilization began to decline around 1000 B.C.
  • Alex declined to ring the alarm.
    — Gideon Lewis-Kraus, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
  • But the state has so far declined.
    — Daniel Kolkey, Oc Register, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Those prices declined last year.
    — Geoff Colvin, Fortune, 23 Feb. 2026
  • Any guest who declines to be searched may be denied entry.
    — Ed Masley, AZCentral.com, 25 Sep. 2025
  • The school declined to comment.
    — Daniel Libit, Sportico.com, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Her lawyer declined to comment.
    — Michael R. Blood, Fortune, 13 Apr. 2026
  • Davis declined to comment on the report at the time.
    — Ryan Gaydos Outkick, FOXNews.com, 28 Apr. 2026
  • But the Philly bar declined their business.
    — Tom Ignudo, CBS News, 9 Jan. 2026
  • The department declined to say what led to the crash.
    — Charlotte Observer, 21 Apr. 2026
  • But crash rates for older drivers have declined since then.
    — Joel Rose, NPR, 23 Mar. 2026
  • Sedarat’s lawyer declined to comment.
    — Marlene Lenthang, NBC news, 6 Nov. 2025
  • Rocky declined to take the stand during the trial.
    — Kimi Robinson, USA Today, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Reps for Sony declined to comment.
    — Matt Grobar, Deadline, 9 Oct. 2025
  • His speech declined as did his mental status.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 11 Sep. 2025
  • The owner of the store declined to comment.
    — Allison Gordon, CNN Money, 2 Oct. 2025
  • But vaccine rates have declined in recent years.
    — Sara Moniuszko, USA Today, 9 Feb. 2026
  • Abdulkareem declined and kept his back to it.
    — Teri Figueroa, San Diego Union-Tribune, 24 June 2026
  • Brenkwitz declined to provide an exact price tag.
    — David Caraccio, Sacbee.com, 9 Mar. 2026
  • Vaccine rates have declined in recent years.
    — Kathryn Palmer, USA Today, 9 Feb. 2026
  • India and China bore the brunt of the visa declines.
    — Arkansas Online, 24 Mar. 2026
  • Spirit declined to comment on the talks.
    — Leslie Josephs,phil Lebeau, CNBC, 22 Apr. 2026
  • Vivendi declined to comment on the news.
    — April Roach, CNBC, 7 Apr. 2026
  • Revenue for both units declined last quarter.
    — Lisa Kailai Han, CNBC, 30 Oct. 2025

decline

2 of 2 noun
  • We saw a sharp decline in sales this month.
  • Declines led advances at the end of the trading day.
  • There was some decline in stock prices at the end of the trading session.
  • The town fell into decline after the factory closed down.
  • The economy experienced a decline of two million jobs.
  • He says that American industry is in a state of decline.
  • Davis and Irvine saw slight declines.
    — Jaweed Kaleem, Los Angeles Times, 8 Jan. 2026
  • Gas prices dropped thanks to a decline in oil prices over the last few weeks.
    — Garfield Hylton, The Orlando Sentinel, 8 June 2026
  • His length off the tee started on a rapid decline.
    — Gabby Herzig, New York Times, 12 May 2026
  • The defense has been in a slow decline since that point.
    — Jace Frederick, Twin Cities, 28 Oct. 2025
  • Is that a hiccup, or the start of a decline?
    — Katie Woo, New York Times, 7 Jan. 2026
  • This is not a story of decline.
    — Dr. Aditya Vikram Kashyap, Forbes.com, 1 June 2026
  • Compact disc sales were on a steady decline.
    — Cerys Davies, Los Angeles Times, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The overall decline has led to rate hikes the past five years.
    — ABC News, 26 May 2026
  • But its decline is a warning sign.
    — Emese MacZko, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • But the decline is not inevitable.
    — Raymond Gallagher, Mercury News, 31 Jan. 2026
  • That 1% decline was the 16th-largest.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 10 Sep. 2025
  • For decades, the Church has been in decline across the West.
    — Elias Wachtel, The Atlantic, 25 Apr. 2026
  • The declines came after steep sell-offs in Asia.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 23 June 2026
  • That 3% decline ranked fourth-worst among the metros.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 10 Sep. 2025
  • The decline in overdose deaths has nothing to do with these acts of war.
    — Grey Gardner, Oc Register, 15 Mar. 2026
  • That 2% decline ranked eighth-largest among the metros.
    — Jonathan Lansner, Oc Register, 10 Sep. 2025
  • But this is not a structural decline in demand.
    — Robert Rapier, Forbes.com, 18 May 2026
  • Kontoor said this was due to a decline in wholesale.
    — Angela Velasquez, Sourcing Journal, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Japan's exports slow their decline.
    — Yeo Boon Ping, CNBC, 17 Sep. 2025
  • There were sales declines, though not as bad as expected.
    — David Moin, Footwear News, 3 Sep. 2025
  • Can the church lead in anything when its numbers have been in steady decline?
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2026
  • Every other age group saw declines or stayed steady.
    — Betty Lin-Fisher, USA Today, 10 Sep. 2025
  • That’s probably still the case, but with the price of oil now in decline … who knows.
    — Jim Edwards, Fortune, 15 June 2026
  • Both metals were on track for monthly declines.
    — Ashitha Shivaprasad, USA Today, 31 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'decline.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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