Meaning & use
devalue
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Meanings
verbtransitivefinance
To lower the official value of a country's money compared with other currencies.
Grammar: Takes an object: devalue the currency.
Patterns
- devalue something
- devalue something against something
The government decided to devalue the peso to boost exports.
If the central bank devalues the currency, imported goods will become more expensive.
The country was forced to devalue its currency twice in one year.
verbtransitive
To make something seem less important, valuable, or worthy than it really is.
Grammar: Takes an object: devalue someone's work.
Patterns
- devalue something
- devalue someone's efforts
- devalue something by doing something
Constant criticism can devalue a child's sense of achievement.
The new policy devalues the contributions of part-time workers.
He felt that the award devalued the years of hard work he had put in.
verbtransitivebusiness
To reduce the price or worth of property, goods, or assets.
Grammar: Takes an object: devalue the property.
Patterns
- devalue something
- devalue assets
The flood devalued many homes in the area.
Adding too many extensions can actually devalue a house.
The scandal devalued the company's shares overnight.
Word forms
| third person singular | devalues |
|---|---|
| past tense | devalued |
| past participle | devalued |
| -ing form | devaluing |
Common combinations
- devalue the currency
- The government chose to devalue the currency rather than raise interest rates.
- devalue someone's work
- Managers who ignore good ideas devalue their team's work.
- devalue a property
- A noisy new road could devalue nearby properties.
- devalue assets
- The company was forced to devalue its assets after the crash.
Synonyms and how they differ
- undervalue
- Often used for judging something as less valuable than it is, while devalue can also mean an official currency action.
- belittle
- Focuses on making a person or their achievements seem small, not on money or prices.
- depreciate
- More technical and often used for assets losing value over time, not for official currency decisions.
Opposites
Word family
- devaluation noun
- The act of reducing the value of a currency or something else.
- devalued adjective
- Having had its value or importance reduced.
Commonly confused: devalue or devaluate?
devalue vs devaluate
A rarer variant of devalue, used mainly in American English for currency; devalue is the standard form.
Practice
The government decided to ______ the currency in order to make exports cheaper.
Choose one answer.
Devalue fits because it means to lower the official value of money. Revalue means to raise it, and appreciate means to increase in value, so they are opposites. Devaluate is a rare variant that is not the usual choice here.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “devalue”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.