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diminish

/dɪˈmɪnɪʃ//dɪˈmɪnɪʃ/·verb
to make or become smaller, weaker, or less important
Fig. 1 — A ball bounces down the floor, and each rebound comes back a little shorter than the one before — a high first arc, then roughly two-thirds of it, then two-thirds of that, the hops crowding closer together as they shrink.
01Definition

To diminish is to grow smaller, weaker, or fewer — or to make something so. Daylight diminishes through autumn, savings diminish, and pain diminishes with rest. It can also mean to belittle: to diminish someone's achievement is to make it seem smaller than it is. The word shares ground with wane and abate, but diminish is the broadest of the three and works on quantity as readily as on intensity. Its natural opposite is to amplify or to expand — to make greater rather than less.

02In use
  • iPublic interest in the scandal diminished as fresher stories took over.
  • iiNothing could diminish her enthusiasm for the long expedition ahead.
  • iiiEach extra hour of study brought diminishing returns as fatigue set in.
03Collocations
  • diminish over time
  • diminish in importance
  • gradually diminish
  • diminishing returns
  • show no sign of diminishing

Family diminished (adjective) · diminishing (adjective) · diminution (noun)

04Relations

=decrease, lessen, dwindle, wane, reduce

≠amplify, expand, increase

05Compared
PairThe difference
diminish vs abateabate = the force of something unpleasant dies down (a storm, pain); diminish = a size, number or value shrinks.
diminish vs amplifymakes a thing greater → amplify; makes it less → diminish.
diminish vs depletea finite store drained toward empty → deplete; a magnitude or standing made smaller, concrete or abstract → diminish.
diminish vs dwindleany reduction, and you can do it to something → diminish; a slow slide toward nothing that happens by itself → dwindle.
diminish vs lessenformal reduction of magnitude — or making someone seem smaller → diminish; plain, everyday easing of a felt amount → lessen.

Also compared with mitigate, undermine, proliferate

06TOEFL & IELTS

A core verb for describing downward trends, and the phrase 'diminishing returns' is a prized academic idiom for essays on economics, study, and effort. Distinguish it from its neighbours: wane suits a light or power fading, abate suits an intensity dying down, while diminish covers size and quantity too. The belittling sense ('diminish her contribution') is also worth knowing.

07Asked
What does 'diminishing returns' mean?
The point where adding more input yields less and less extra output — a third dessert brings less pleasure than the first, a fifth hour of study less than the second. The law of diminishing returns is a cornerstone of economics, and the scene above is its shape: each bounce shorter than the last, the gains forever smaller though never quite zero.
What is the difference between diminish, decrease, and reduce?
Decrease is the neutral, measurable fall ('sales decreased 4%'). Reduce is usually deliberate — someone does it ('reduce costs'). Diminish is the most formal and often gradual, and it alone carries a figurative belittling sense. Numbers decrease; a manager reduces them; respect or daylight diminishes. Diminish also works on things you cannot count.
What does it mean to 'diminish' someone or their achievement?
To make it seem smaller or less worthy than it is — 'I don't want to diminish her contribution' means the opposite of belittling it. This is the word's second life, separate from the size sense: not shrinking a quantity, but talking a thing down. It is a quietly sharp verb in argument and criticism.
What does 'diminished' mean in music and law?
Two specialist senses. In music, a diminished chord is built from stacked minor thirds and sounds tense and unresolved. In law, 'diminished responsibility' is a plea that a mental condition reduced a defendant's culpability, so a charge may be lessened. Both keep the core idea: something made smaller — a musical interval, or the degree of blame.
What is the noun form of diminish?
Diminution — note the surprise: the -ish of the verb becomes -ution, and the stress moves (dim-in-YOO-shun). 'A diminution in numbers' is the formal noun. English also keeps the musical diminuendo and the everyday adjective diminishing from the same Latin root minuere, 'to make smaller' — the same minus that means 'less'.
What is the difference between diminish and amplify?
Opposite directions of degree: diminish makes smaller or weaker, amplify makes larger or louder. The bouncing ball in the scene above diminishes; run it in reverse and each rebound would amplify. The full contrast, with both animated scenes, is on the amplify vs diminish page in the 'Compared' list above.