decays
noun · verb
Form of decay , plural of decay.
Simple meaning
Gradually becoming inferior.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
duhkayzSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dəˈkeɪz
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
noun
plural of decay
The process of gradually becoming inferior
plural of decayecologymedicine
The process or result of being gradually decomposed; rot, decomposition.
plural of decay
A deterioration of condition; loss of status, quality, strength, or fortune.
plural of decay
A gradual decrease; as of stored charge or current
verb
third-person singular of decay
To deteriorate, to get worse, to lose strength or health, to decline in quality.
third-person singular of decayintransitiveof organic material
To rot, to go bad.
third-person singular of decay
To cause to rot or deteriorate.
third-person singular of decay
Undergo decay or decomposition
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: The process of gradually becoming inferior
Used this way, decays is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- Matter-of-fact
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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Word Family
Related forms, grouped by how they connect.
Inflected forms
Grammatical variations of the same word.
The process of gradually becoming inferior.
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.