Synonyms for Decay
dɪˈkeɪde·cay

English Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:2.0 / 2 votes

1. decay

   Rot is a strong word, ordinarily esteemed coarse, but on occasion capable of approved emphatic use; as, "the name of the wicked shall rot," Prov. x, 7; decay and decompose are now common euphemisms. A substance is decomposed when resolved into its original elements by any process; it is decayed when resolved into its original elements by natural processes; it decays gradually, but may be instantly decomposed, as water into oxygen and hydrogen; to say that a thing is decayed may denote only a partial result, but to say it is decomposed ordinarily implies that the change is complete or nearly so. Putrefy and the adjectives putrid and putrescent, and the nouns putridity and putrescence, are used almost exclusively of animal matter in a state of decomposition, the more general word decay being used of either animal or vegetable substances.

   Synonyms:
   corrupt, decompose, molder, putrefy, rot, spoil

Complete Dictionary of Synonyms and AntonymsRate these synonyms:1.3 / 3 votes

1. decayverb

   Synonyms:
   decline, wane, sink, dwindle, rot, wither, perish, waste, ebb, decrease

   Antonyms:
   rise, grow, increase, flourish, luxuriate, vegetate, expand, enlarge

2. decaynoun

   Synonyms:
   declension, waning, sinking, wasting, decrease, corruption, decadence, putrefaction, rottenness, dry rot, consumption, decline

   Antonyms:
   rise, growth, birth, increase, fertility, exuberance, luxuriance, prosperity

Princeton's WordNetRate these synonyms:2.1 / 7 votes

1. decaynoun

   the process of gradually becoming inferior

   Synonyms:
   disintegration, decomposition, radioactive decay, decline

2. decay, declinenoun

   a gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current

   Synonyms:
   disintegration, fall, decay, downslope, descent, radioactive decay, decomposition, declension, decline, declivity, declination, diminution

3. decay, decompositionnoun

   the organic phenomenon of rotting

   Synonyms:
   disintegration, chemical decomposition reaction, decomposition, putrefaction, radioactive decay, vector decomposition, decline, rot, rotting, decay, decomposition reaction

4. decaynoun

   an inferior state resulting from the process of decaying

   "the corpse was in an advanced state of decay"; "the house had fallen into a serious state of decay and disrepair"

   Synonyms:
   disintegration, decomposition, radioactive decay, decline

5. decay, radioactive decay, disintegrationverb

   the spontaneous disintegration of a radioactive substance along with the emission of ionizing radiation

   Synonyms:
   disintegration, decomposition, radioactive decay, decline, decay, annihilation, dissolution

6. disintegrate, decay, decomposeverb

   lose a stored charge, magnetic flux, or current

   "the particles disintegrated during the nuclear fission process"

   Synonyms:
   break down, decay, break up, moulder, disintegrate, decompose, molder, dilapidate, crumble, rot

7. decay, crumble, dilapidateverb

   fall into decay or ruin

   "The unoccupied house started to decay"

   Synonyms:
   break down, dilapidate, decompose, crumple, disintegrate, tumble, collapse, crumble, decay, fall apart

8. decayverb

   undergo decay or decomposition

   "The body started to decay and needed to be cremated"

   Synonyms:
   crumble, decompose, dilapidate, disintegrate

Matched Categories

1. • Change
   • Natural Process
   • Organic Phenomenon
   • Unsoundness

Dictionary of English SynonymesRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. decayverb

   Synonyms:
   decline, fail, deteriorate, wither, waste, perish, be impaired, waste away, fall into decay

2. decayverb

   Synonyms:
   rot, putrefy, be spoiled

3. decaynoun

   Synonyms:
   decline, decadence, deterioration, degeneracy

Synonyms, Antonyms & Associated WordsRate these synonyms:0.0 / 0 votes

1. decaynoun

   Synonyms:
   deterioration, corruption, decline, decadence, senescence, retrogradation, decomposition, caducity, putrefaction, putrescence, rot, eremacausis

2. decayverb

   Synonyms:
   decline, retrograde, deteriorate, rot, decompose, putrefy, moulder

PPDB, the paraphrase databaseRate these paraphrases:0.0 / 0 votes

1. List of paraphrases for "decay":

   decomposition, disintegration, rot, decadence, degradation, break-up, decline, breakdown, deterioration, degeneration, decomposing

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How to use Decay in a sentence?

1. Sean Henderson:

   With options, I can place non-directional trades that make money through time decay.

2. Donald Henderson:

   Weve got everything from the head almost to the tip of the tail, we dont have much in the way of flippers. They were lost to decay, or maybe they were bitten off.

3. Alan Simpson:

   A society like ours, which professes no one religion and has allowed all religions to decay, which indulges freedom to the point of license and individualism to the point of anarchy, needs all the support that responsible, cultivated homes can furnish. I hope your generation will provide a firmer shelter for civilized standards.

4. John Calhoun:

   The interval between the decay of the old and the formation and establishment of the new constitutes a period of transition which must always necessarily be one of uncertainty, confusion, error, and wild and fierce fanaticism.

5. William Congreve:

   A wit should no more be sincere, than a woman constant; one argues a decay of parts, as to other of beauty.