Meaning & use
recession
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Meanings
nouncountable
A period when a country's economy shrinks, with less production, fewer jobs, and lower spending.
Grammar: Countable: you can say a recession, the recession, or recessions. Often used with in: a recession in Japan.
Patterns
- a recession in something
- fall into recession
- be in recession
The country fell into a deep recession after the housing market collapsed.
During the recession, many small shops closed and unemployment rose sharply.
Economists disagree about whether the economy is heading for another recession.
noununcountabletechnical
A gradual movement backward or away from a point.
Grammar: Uncountable and formal; often used in scientific or technical writing about the sea or ice.
Patterns
- the recession of something
- recession of the sea
The recession of the glaciers has accelerated over the past decade.
Geologists measured the recession of the coastline after the storm.
Word forms
| plural | recessions |
|---|
Common combinations
- economic recession
- The government introduced tax cuts to soften the economic recession.
- deep recession
- The 1930s saw a deep recession that affected the whole world.
- fall into recession
- Many analysts fear the economy will fall into recession next year.
- pull out of recession
- It took several years for the country to pull out of recession.
- global recession
- A global recession would hit exporting nations hardest.
Synonyms and how they differ
- downturn
- A downturn is any period of reduced economic activity and can be shorter or milder than a recession.
- slump
- A slump is a severe and sudden fall in trade or prices; it is more dramatic and less technical than recession.
- depression
- A depression is a much longer and more serious recession, with very high unemployment and falling prices.
Opposites
Word family
- recessionary adjective
- Relating to or causing a recession, as in recessionary pressures.
- recede verb
- To move back or away, or to become weaker or less serious.
Commonly confused: recession or depression? recession or recess?
recession vs depression
A depression is far more severe and longer than a recession; in everyday use, people often exaggerate by calling a mild recession a depression.
recession vs recess
Recess means a break in official business or a break at school, not an economic decline. Do not confuse the spelling.
Practice
The economy has been in ______ for two years, with factories closing and jobs disappearing.
Choose one answer.
Recession is the period of economic decline. Recess means a break, recessional is a hymn or a procession out, and recessive describes a gene that is not expressed.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “recession”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.