diminishing returns

noun

A condition in which additional inputs into an organization, project or process produce progressively fewer or lower-quality additional outputs, and may, in extreme cases, cause the total quantity or quality of outputs to decrease.

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Meanings

noundiminishing returns pl (plural only)
  1. idiomaticpluralplural onlyA condition in which additional inputs into an organization, project or process produce progressively fewer or lower-quality additional outputs, and may, in extreme cases, cause the total quantity or quality of outputs to decrease.

    He added, however, that the system operator is unlikely to use the cellphone alert often, lest Californians start to ignore it. The governor agreed that diminishing returns were a risk.

    2022 September 7, Jill Cowan, Shawn Hubler, Ivan Penn, “California Leaders Credit Cellphone Alert for Sudden Conservation”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
    2 more examples

    Brüno was a case of diminishing returns, intermittently amusing but not nearly as bracing or funny as Borat—it didn’t help that Brüno was the most thinly conceived of all his Da Ali G Show characters—and the lead-up to Baron Cohen’s new comedy, The Dictator, made it look like he’d boxed himself into a corner.

    2012 May 15, Scott Tobias, “Film: Reviews: The Dictator”, in The Onion AV Club, archived from the original on 28 May 2012

    Like a TV show, Zootopia 2 takes a more sprawling, less focused approach—with new characters like conspiracy theorist beaver Nibbles Maplestick (Fortune Feimster) and Lynxley’s sympathetic son Pawbert (Andy Samberg) eating up a lot of screentime with diminishing returns.

    2025 November 25, Caroline Siede, “Zootopia 2 is a stagnant sequel with one stellar subplot”, in AV Club

Translations

Polish prawo malejących przychodów
  • prawo malejących przychodówTranslations
Spanish rendimientos decrecientes, retornos marginales disminuyentes
  • rendimientos decrecientesTranslations
  • retornos marginales disminuyentesTranslations
Cite this entry
APA

diminishing returns. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diminishing%20returns

MLA

“diminishing returns.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diminishing%20returns. Accessed November 4, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “diminishing returns,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/diminishing%20returns.

Source: diminishing returns on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.