decelerate

verb

(ˌ)dē-ˈse-lə-ˌrāt How to pronounce decelerate (audio)
Definition of deceleratenext
as in to slow
to cause to move or proceed at a less rapid pace she decelerated the car as we entered the school zone

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of decelerate That works beautifully during the build-out and gets ugly at exactly the moment growth decelerates, because that's when the depreciation from peak spending years hits an income statement that's no longer growing into it. — Jason Kirsch, Forbes.com, 17 Aug. 2026 Inflation remains much higher than anyone would like, but reports earlier this week suggested the pace of increases in prices is decelerating. — Stan Choe, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026 Apple also said services growth would decelerate in the September quarter. — Bloomberg, Mercury News, 31 July 2026 Hitting the brakes Altman isn’t the only one talking about decelerating AI. — Beatrice Nolan, Fortune, 30 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for decelerate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for decelerate
  1. slow
  2. brake
Verb
  • Despite a slowing economy and domestic labor-market pressures, China continues to subsidize and incentivize companies in Fujian to recruit young Taiwanese to work in the province.
    — Ningrong Liu, Fortune, 23 Oct. 2026
  • Introducing conscious thoughts actually disrupts this flow and slows down the process.
    — Jesse Granger, New York Times, 23 Oct. 2026
Definition of slow
Verb
  • This can instantly pressurize individual shock absorbers to counteract body roll, front-to-rear acceleration pitch and hard-braking dive.
    — New Atlas, New Atlas, 24 Oct. 2026
  • Nobody else was pushing to the limit, but Antonelli was braking late, hitting the curbs.
    — Sam Knight, New Yorker, 22 Oct. 2026
Definition of brake

Browse Nearby Words

deceiving
decelerate
decelerated
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Decelerate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/decelerate. Accessed 27 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of milieu

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'Affect' vs. 'Effect'

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'

'Za' and 9 Other Words to Help You Win at SCRABBLE
See More

Popular

See More

How to Use 'Who' vs. 'Whom'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
different halloween monsters in silhouette
A Monstrous Vocab Quiz Words That Go Bump in the Night
See All