Word · CEFR B2 · Frequency #2190
decline
拒绝；谢绝
To say no to something; to refuse or turn down.
- 1.
To move downwards, to fall, to drop.
向下移动,降落,掉落。
- 2.
To become weaker or worse.
变弱或变差。
- 3.
To bend downward; to bring down; to depress; to cause to bend, or fall.
使向下弯曲；降低；压下；使弯曲或落下。
- 4.
To cause to decrease or diminish.
使减少或变小。
- 5.
To turn or bend aside; to deviate; to stray; to withdraw.
转向或偏离；偏离；游离；退却。
- 6.
To choose not to do something; refuse, forbear, refrain.
选择不做某事；拒绝,克制,避免。
- 7.
To inflect for case, number, gender, and the like.
按格、数、性等变化词形。
- 8.
To recite all the different declined forms of (a word): to recite its declension.
列举(一个词)的所有不同变格形式；背诵其变格。
- 9.
To run through from first to last; to recite in order as though declining a noun.
从头到尾过一遍；像变格名词一样按顺序列举。
下降；下跌；衰退；恶化；减弱；使减少；降低；使下垂；使弯下；偏离；背离；退避
In use
She declined the offer to join the committee.
The company's profits have declined sharply this quarter.
He declined to comment on the rumors.
Verb forms
base decline · third person declines · -ing declining · past declined · past participle declined
规则动词，过去式和过去分词加-ed
Connections
Collocations
- decline to comment
- 拒绝发表评论
- The spokesperson declined to comment on the report.发言人对该报道拒绝发表评论。
- decline an invitation
- 谢绝邀请
- She declined the invitation to the wedding.她谢绝了参加婚礼的邀请。
- decline in value
- 价值下降；贬值
- The house has declined in value over the past year.这栋房子的价值在过去一年里下跌了。
- decline in quality
- 质量下降
- The service has declined in quality since the staff changed.自员工更换以来，服务质量有所下降。
- decline sharply
- 急剧下降
- Sales declined sharply after the price increase.涨价后销售额急剧下降。
- decline by half
Learner notes
Memory Tip
把 decline 想成‘向下倾斜的线’，数字下跌、健康变差、低头婉拒，都有‘向下’的共同画面，帮助记忆。
Context & Register
语域：formal 常见场景：formal invitations、business offers、official statements 此处表示“拒绝、谢绝”，语气通常正式且礼貌，多用于正式邀请、商务提议或官方回应等场合。日常口语中较少直接用 decline，常改用 refuse（较直接）或 turn down（较随意）。
Grammar Note
可作及物或不及物动词，后接名词或不定式；常用搭配 decline in (下降) 和 decline to (拒绝)
Pronunciation & Spelling
这些词都与 decline 押韵：incline /ɪnˈklaɪn/、recline /rɪˈklaɪn/、line /laɪn/、shine /ʃaɪn/、divine /dɪˈvaɪn/、fine /faɪn/，重读都是 /aɪn/。其中 incline 和 recline 与 decline 同含 -cline，拼写和读音对应；divine 与 decline 都以 /dɪ-/ 开头。注意拼写相近但不押韵的词：clinic /ˈklɪnɪk/、client /ˈklaɪənt/、declare /dɪˈkleər/，别混淆。
High-value vocabulary
该词属于 Oxford 核心词汇，值得优先掌握常见搭配和句型。
Usage priority
Collins 词频等级为 4，建议结合例句记忆，而不是只背中文释义。
Learn the forms together
页面下方列出了常见词形变化。学习时注意它们在句子中的语法位置。
Dictionary facts from DICTIONARY_API_DEV, ECDICT, WIKTIONARY.