Decrease vs. Reduce — What's the Difference?
By Tayyaba Rehman — Updated on November 1, 2023
Decrease refers to a reduction in number or size, while Reduce means to make something smaller or less in degree.
Difference Between Decrease and Reduce
Table of Contents
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Key Differences
Decrease and Reduce, though often used interchangeably, have distinct nuances in certain contexts. Decrease typically implies a reduction in size, number, or degree without necessarily implying an agent or method by which this occurs. For example, when the temperature falls, we might say it has decreased. In contrast, Reduce often carries the implication that some action has been taken to bring about the reduction. For instance, if someone turns down a heater to lower the temperature, they have reduced it.
Both words, however, are associated with the concept of diminishing. Decrease can be both a noun and a verb. As a noun, it signifies the process or instance of reducing, like a decrease in sales. As a verb, it denotes the action of going down in number or amount. Reduce, predominantly used as a verb, emphasizes the action or method of making something smaller, fewer, or less.
In mathematical contexts, Decrease would imply a reduction in value, while Reduce might be used in scenarios like reducing a fraction to its simplest form. In essence, while both terms signify a reduction, Decrease often reflects a state or condition of being lessened, whereas Reduce highlights the act or process causing the diminution.
Comparison Chart
Primary Function
Describes the process of becoming less.
Implies an action taken to make something less.
Grammatical Usage
Can be a noun or verb.
Mostly used as a verb.
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Context
Passive; can occur without an external agent.
Active; typically involves an external agent.
Example Usage
Sales decreased last month.
We need to reduce expenses.
Mathematical Application
A value going down.
Simplifying or minimizing.
Compare with Definitions
Decrease
To go downward, especially suddenly.
The stock prices decreased rapidly.
Reduce
To bring down, as in extent, amount, or degree; diminish.
Decrease
A downward movement or trend.
The graph showed a steady decrease.
Reduce
To bring down to a simpler form.
Reduce the equation to its simplest terms.
Decrease
To become smaller in size or amount.
The demand for the product decreased over time.
Reduce
To diminish in strength or intensity.
The medication can reduce pain.
Decrease
A reduction in quantity or strength.
There was a noticeable decrease in attendance.
Reduce
To bring to a particular state or condition.
The city was reduced to rubble.
Decrease
To become or cause to become less or smaller, as in number, amount, or intensity.
Reduce
To gain control of; subject or conquer
"a design to reduce them under absolute despotism" (Declaration of Independence).
Decrease
The act or process of decreasing.
Reduce
To subject to destruction
Enemy bombers reduced the city to rubble.
Decrease
The amount by which something decreases.
Reduce
To bring to a specified undesirable state, as of weakness or helplessness
Disease that reduced the patient to emaciation.
Teasing that reduced the child to tears.
Decrease
(intransitive) Of a quantity, to become smaller.
The quality of our products has decreased since the main designer left.
Reduce
To compel to desperate acts
The Depression reduced many to begging on street corners.
Decrease
(transitive) To make (a quantity) smaller.
Let's decrease the volume a little so we can hear each other talking.
Reduce
To lower in rank or grade; demote.
Decrease
An amount by which a quantity is decreased.
After six years of constant growth, the company reported a slight decrease in sales last year.
Reduce
To thicken or intensify the flavor of (a sauce, for example) by slow boiling.
Decrease
(knitting) A reduction in the number of stitches, usually accomplished by suspending the stitch to be decreased from another existing stitch or by knitting it together with another stitch. See Decrease (knitting).
Reduce
To lower the price of
The store has drastically reduced winter coats.
Decrease
To grow less, - opposed to increase; to be diminished gradually, in size, degree, number, duration, etc., or in strength, quality, or excellence; as, they days decrease in length from June to December.
He must increase, but I must decrease.
The olive leaf, which certainly them toldThe flood decreased.
Crete's ample fields diminish to our eye;Before the Boreal blasts the vessels fly.
Reduce
To decrease the viscosity of (paint, for example), as by adding a solvent.
Decrease
To cause to grow less; to diminish gradually; as, extravagance decreases one's means.
That might decrease their present store.
Reduce
To put in a simpler or more systematic form; simplify or codify
Reduced her ideas to a collection of maxims.
Decrease
A becoming less; gradual diminution; decay; as, a decrease of revenue or of strength.
Reduce
To turn into powder; pulverize.
Decrease
The wane of the moon.
Reduce
To decrease the valence of (an atom) by adding electrons.
Decrease
A change downward;
There was a decrease in his temperature as the fever subsided
There was a sharp drop-off in sales
Reduce
To remove oxygen from (a compound).
Decrease
A process of becoming smaller or shorter
Reduce
To add hydrogen to (a compound).
Decrease
The amount by which something decreases
Reduce
To change to a metallic state by removing nonmetallic constituents; smelt.
Decrease
The act of decreasing or reducing something
Reduce
(Mathematics) To simplify the form of (an expression, such as a fraction) without changing the value.
Decrease
Decrease in size, extent, or range;
The amount of homework decreased towards the end of the semester
The cabin pressure fell dramatically
Her weight fall to under a hundred pounds
His voice fell to a whisper
Reduce
(Medicine) To restore (a fractured or displaced body part) to a normal condition or position.
Decrease
Make smaller;
He decreased his staff
Reduce
(Linguistics) To pronounce (a stressed vowel) as the unstressed version of that vowel or as schwa.
Decrease
To diminish in importance or value.
His influence in the company has decreased.
Reduce
To become diminished.
Reduce
To lose weight, as by dieting.
Reduce
(Biology) To undergo meiosis.
Reduce
(transitive) To bring down the size, quantity, quality, value or intensity of something; to diminish, to lower.
To reduce weight, speed, heat, expenses, price, personnel etc.
Reduce
(intransitive) To lose weight.
Reduce
(transitive) To bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
To reduce a sergeant to the ranks
Reduce
(transitive) To humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture.
To reduce a province or a fort
Reduce
(transitive) To bring to an inferior state or condition.
To reduce a city to ashes
Reduce
To decrease the liquid content of food by boiling much of its water off.
Reduce
To add electrons / hydrogen or to remove oxygen.
Formaldehyde can be reduced to form methanol.
Reduce
To produce metal from ore by removing nonmetallic elements in a smelter.
Reduce
To simplify an equation or formula without changing its value.
Reduce
To express the solution of a problem in terms of another (known) algorithm.
Reduce
To convert a syllogism to a clearer or simpler form.
Reduce
To convert to written form. (Usage note: this verb almost always appears as "reduce to writing".)
It is important that all business contracts be reduced to writing.
Reduce
To perform a reduction; to restore a fracture or dislocation to the correct alignment.
Reduce
To reform a line or column from (a square).
Reduce
To strike off the payroll.
Reduce
To annul by legal means.
Reduce
To translate (a book, document, etc.).
A book reduced into English
Reduce
To bring or lead back to any former place or condition.
And to his brother's house reduced his wife.
The sheep must of necessity be scattered, unless the great Shephered of souls oppose, or some of his delegates reduce and direct us.
Reduce
To bring to any inferior state, with respect to rank, size, quantity, quality, value, etc.; to diminish; to lower; to degrade; to impair; as, to reduce a sergeant to the ranks; to reduce a drawing; to reduce expenses; to reduce the intensity of heat.
Nothing so excellent but a man may fasten upon something belonging to it, to reduce it.
Having reducedTheir foe to misery beneath their fears.
Hester Prynne was shocked at the condition to which she found the clergyman reduced.
Reduce
To bring to terms; to humble; to conquer; to subdue; to capture; as, to reduce a province or a fort.
Reduce
To bring to a certain state or condition by grinding, pounding, kneading, rubbing, etc.; as, to reduce a substance to powder, or to a pasty mass; to reduce fruit, wood, or paper rags, to pulp.
It were but rightAnd equal to reduce me to my dust.
Reduce
To bring into a certain order, arrangement, classification, etc.; to bring under rules or within certain limits of descriptions and terms adapted to use in computation; as, to reduce animals or vegetables to a class or classes; to reduce a series of observations in astronomy; to reduce language to rules.
Reduce
To change, as numbers, from one denomination into another without altering their value, or from one denomination into others of the same value; as, to reduce pounds, shillings, and pence to pence, or to reduce pence to pounds; to reduce days and hours to minutes, or minutes to days and hours.
Reduce
To add an electron to an atom or ion.
Reduce
To restore to its proper place or condition, as a displaced organ or part; as, to reduce a dislocation, a fracture, or a hernia.
Reduce
Cut down on; make a reduction in;
Reduce your daily fat intake
The employer wants to cut back health benefits
Reduce
Make less complex;
Reduce a problem to a single question
Reduce
Bring to humbler or weaker state or condition;
He reduced the population to slavery
Reduce
Simplify the form of a mathematical equation of expression by substituting one term for another
Reduce
Lower in grade or rank or force somebody into an undignified situation;
She reduced her niece to a servant
Reduce
Be the essential element;
The proposal boils down to a compromise
Reduce
Reduce in size; reduce physically;
Hot water will shrink the sweater
Can you shrink this image?
Reduce
Lessen and make more modest;
Reduce one's standard of living
Reduce
Make smaller;
Reduce an image
Reduce
To remove oxygen from a compound, or cause to react with hydrogen or form a hydride, or to undergo an increase in the number of electrons
Reduce
Narrow or limit;
Reduce the influx of foreigners
Reduce
Put down by force or intimidation;
The government quashes any attempt of an uprising
China keeps down her dissidents very efficiently
The rich landowners subjugated the peasants working the land
Reduce
Undergo meiosis;
The cells reduce
Reduce
Reposition (a broken bone after surgery) back to its normal site
Reduce
Reduce in scope while retaining essential elements;
The manuscript must be shortened
Reduce
Be cooked until very little liquid is left;
The sauce should reduce to one cup
Reduce
Cook until very little liquid is left;
The cook reduced the sauce by boiling it for a long time
Reduce
Lessen the strength or flavor of a solution or mixture;
Cut bourbon
Reduce
Take off weight
Reduce
To make smaller or less in amount.
They plan to reduce the prices next week.
Reduce
To decrease the volume or concentration.
The sauce was reduced to a thick consistency.
Common Curiosities
Can "Decrease" be used as a noun?
Yes, e.g., "There was a decrease in sales."
Does "Reduce" have mathematical implications?
Yes, like reducing a fraction to its simplest form.
Does "Reduce" always need an agent?
Not always, but it often implies an action causing the reduction.
Are these words used differently in British and American English?
No, their meanings and usages are consistent in both dialects.
Are Decrease and Reduce synonyms?
They're similar, but "Decrease" often implies a passive reduction, while "Reduce" implies an active reduction.
Can I say "Decrease the volume"?
It's more common to say "Reduce the volume," but both are understandable.
Which is more formal, Decrease or Reduce?
Both are suitable for formal contexts; it depends on the specific usage.
Can I use "Decrease" to describe diminishing importance?
Yes, like "His role in the project decreased."
Which is more active, Decrease or Reduce?
"Reduce" often has a more active connotation.
Is it correct to say "Reduce in size"?
Yes, it's correct and commonly used.
In financial contexts, which is more common?
Both can be used, but you might hear "Reduce expenses" more often.
Is "Decrease" always about numbers?
No, it can be about size, importance, strength, etc.
How do "Decrease" and "Reduce" differ in cooking?
"Reduce" often means simmering to lessen volume, while "Decrease" can mean lessening an ingredient amount.
Can I use both words in scientific contexts?
Yes, both are suitable, but ensure they fit the specific context.
Can "Reduce" mean to simplify?
Yes, like reducing a problem to its core elements.
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Written by
Tayyaba RehmanTayyaba Rehman is a distinguished writer, currently serving as a primary contributor to askdifference.com. As a researcher in semantics and etymology, Tayyaba's passion for the complexity of languages and their distinctions has found a perfect home on the platform. Tayyaba delves into the intricacies of language, distinguishing between commonly confused words and phrases, thereby providing clarity for readers worldwide.
