downsize

/ˈdaʊnsaɪz/

downsize verb: to reduce in size or number.

Verb

downsize (third-person singular simple present downsizes, present participle downsizing, simple past and past participle downsized)

(intransitive) To reduce in size or number.
- Joe and Edna moved to a bungalow after deciding to downsize when the children had left home.
- The company chose to downsize by laying off half of its workers.
(transitive) To reduce the workforce of.
- They downsized the division by offering attractive early-retirement packages and selling off an office building.
Synonyms:

rightsize
(euphemistic, transitive) To terminate the employment of.
- Joe got downsized and became a plumber.
Synonyms:

axe, can, decruit, dehire, discard, remove, discharge, dismiss, fire, give the axe

It began with the familiar political motives of civil service rationalization and downsizing.
Downsizing is one of the leading trends in automotive engine design.
He was excessed in the last downsizing.

21 more synonymsFewer synonyms

third-person singular present	downsizes
present participle	downsizing
past participle	downsized
past	downsized

From down- + size.

What does downsize mean?: Downsize means to reduce in size or number.
What part of speech is downsize?: Downsize is a verb.
How do you pronounce downsize?: Downsize is pronounced /ˈdaʊnsaɪz/.
What is the past tense of downsize?: The past tense of downsize is downsized.

Adapted from Wiktionary: downsize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-us-downsize.ogg.

Cite this entry: “downsize.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/downsize. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.