declined 1 of 2

adjective

as in bowing
bending downward or forward we awaited our punishment with declined heads

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declined

2 of 2

verb

past tense of decline
1
as in refused
to show unwillingness to accept, do, engage in, or agree to he declined the invitation to the party she declined to participate in the soccer game

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2
as in denied
to be unwilling to grant declined our request to hold a party

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in fell
to go to a lower level especially abruptly new-car sales declined to their lowest level in years

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4
as in deteriorated
to become worse or of less value his reputation as a writer began to decline not long after his death

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5
as in decreased
to grow less in scope or intensity especially gradually the winds should decline as soon as the cold front passes

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6
as in plunged
to lead or extend downward the bike path declines toward the riverbank and then follows the river for several miles

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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 declined
Verb
Police initially declined to share details about the victim beyond his age and gender to The Times on Thursday night. — Iris Kwok, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2026 Warsh at the start of the summer declined to say whether rates should rise. — Taylor Millard, The Washington Examiner, 3 Oct. 2026 Among the documents obtained by the Times also were records showing the district attorney’s office declined to review any additional evidence gathered by the campus police department beyond the six-page statement signed by Doe. — Isa Mudannayake, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 2026 From September 2025 through August 2026, big-ticket renovation categories declined in a range of 10% to 28% at Home Depot and Lowe’s compared with the prior year, according to Datavations. — Kevin Williams, CNBC, 3 Oct. 2026 Residents have reported hundreds of them, but researchers declined to give a death toll, saying that would become clear after the season ends around late November. — ABC News, 2 Oct. 2026 Harry is allegedly working on a Netflix documentary about Princess Diana’s tragic death tied to the 30th anniversary, and Diana’s sisters, Lady Sarah McCorquodale and Lady Jane Fellowes, have declined to participate in the project. — Allison Degrushe, StyleCaster, 26 Sep. 2026 Marcos del Mazo / LightRocket via Getty Images Duro also said an anonymous individual had offered to cover the rent payments, but the landlord declined to sign a new lease. — Jamie Gray, NBC news, 26 Sep. 2026 The other four networks in the rotation — CBS, NBC, ABC and Fox — declined to replace CNN, suspending coverage for most of the week, an act of protest that meant a dearth of video images from the White House. — Ted Johnson, Deadline, 25 Sep. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for declined
  1. nodding
  2. refused
  3. denied
  4. fell
  5. deteriorated
  6. decreased
  7. plunged
  8. weeping
Adjective
  • James O’Donoghue, a planetary scientist with the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, likened our planet’s tilting phenomenon to a nodding head.
    — Aylin Woodward, WSJ, 21 Dec. 2021
Definition of nodding
Verb
  • Burnham has refused to rule out tax hikes, and the British press is reporting that windfall taxes targeting banks might be on the table.
    — Chloe Taylor, CNBC, 6 Oct. 2026
  • Iran has continued to attack some tankers shuttling oil through the strait – but those could be ships that refused to pay a toll, Brouhard suggested.
    — David Goldman, CNN Money, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of refused
Verb
  • Hamas has denied trying to carry out attacks or rebuild its arsenal and accuses Israel of undermining the Gaza peace deal.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 4 Oct. 2026
  • Clancy’s defense files an emergency appeal to further question the holdout juror, but the appeal is denied.
    — Eric Levenson, CNN Money, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of denied
Verb
  • Yet trees that took a millennium to grow can be felled in under an hour.
    — Annika Hammerschlag, Los Angeles Times, 16 Sep. 2026
  • Vines are pulled away from fences, and sometimes trees are even felled.
    — The Washington Post, San Diego Union-Tribune, 12 Sep. 2026
Definition of fell
Verb
  • The central bank's monthly Survey of Consumer Expectations found that consumers expect inflation to be even higher a year from now, while perceptions about their own financial standing deteriorated.
    — Jessica Dickler, CNBC, 7 Oct. 2026
  • However, as Germany’s economic problems — slow growth, high inflation, rising energy prices — have worsened, public sentiment toward the newcomers has deteriorated.
    — Kirsten Grieshaber, Los Angeles Times, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of deteriorated
Verb
  • This means any slowdown in the labor market could create a more serious consumption problem, with the same households facing slower income growth and decreased access to credit.
    — Harvey Stober, CNBC, 4 Oct. 2026
  • And the number of young people who stayed on medication for six months — already quite low — may have actually decreased.
    — Theresa Gaffney, STAT, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of decreased
Verb
  • At Adoptions for Love, a cat rescue currently sheltering 80 felines in the more upscale neighborhood of Playa, the number of people looking to adopt has plunged.
    — Orlando Matos, NBC news, 7 Oct. 2026
  • GoPro went public at $24 per share five years before that, and has plunged over 94%, as of Monday.
    — Morgan Chittum, Fortune, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of plunged
Adjective
  • And every day, across from them, outside the clinic, about to enter or just leaving, there were women hugging each other and weeping.
    — David Mamet, National Review, 11 Aug. 2022
  • The show manages to stay on the brink — always laughing, never quite weeping — for its entire length.
    — Helen Shaw, Vulture, 8 Dec. 2021
Definition of weeping

Browse Nearby Words

decline
declined
declined (in)
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Cite this Entry

“Declined.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/declined. Accessed 9 Oct. 2026.

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