Meanings
present singular third person downsizes · participle present downsizing · participle past downsized · past downsized
- intransitiveTo reduce in size or number.
The company chose to downsize by laying off half of its workers.
3 more examples
Joe and Edna moved to a bungalow after deciding to downsize when the children had left home.
Class 108 DMU LO257 awaits departure from Manchester Victoria on June 19 1991. Possessing 16 platforms in the 1960s, the station was significantly downsized in the early 1990s and today just six platforms remain.
2020 June 3, Philip Haigh, “Who can clean up Manchester's mess?”, in Rail, page 48, photo captionWhile some of these moves will be prompted by, for instance, releasing equity to help children get on the property ladder, David Fell, Hamptons' senior analyst, says many will probably be downsizing to reduce mortgage payments to a more manageable level.
2023 November 25, Alexandra Goss, “Downsizers’ dilemma”, in FT Weekend (House & Home section), London: The Financial Times Ltd., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 1
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo reduce the workforce of.
verbTo terminate the employment of.
Origin
Translations
Chinese Mandarin 裁員 /裁员
- 裁員 /裁员 (cáiyuán)to reduce the workforce of
Dutch afslanken, reorganizeren
- afslankento reduce in size or number
- reorganizerento reduce in size or number
- afslankento reduce the workforce of
- reorganizerento reduce the workforce of
- afdankento terminate the employment of
- afvloeiento terminate the employment of
Finnish pienentää, vähentää työvoimaa
- pienentääto reduce in size or number
- vähentää työvoimaato reduce the workforce of
- saada potkutto terminate the employment of
French réduire, diminuer
- réduireto reduce in size or number
- diminuerto reduce in size or number
- revoir à la baisseto reduce in size or number
- réduireto reduce the workforce of
- réajusterto reduce the workforce of
Greek μειώνω, μειώνω
- μειώνω (meióno)to reduce in size or number
- μειώνω (meióno)to reduce the workforce of
Hungarian leépít, elbocsát
- leépítto reduce the workforce of
- elbocsátto terminate the employment of
Japanese ダウンサイジングする, リストラする
- ダウンサイジングする (daunsaizingu-surú)to reduce the workforce of
- リストラする (risutora-surú)to reduce the workforce of
Russian сокраща́ть, сократи́ть
- сокраща́ть (sokraščátʹ)to reduce the workforce of
- сократи́ть (sokratítʹ)to reduce the workforce of
- увольнять (uvolʹnjatʹ)to terminate the employment of
- сокращать (sokraščatʹ)to terminate the employment of
Spanish hacer recortes de personal, hacer recortes de plantilla
- hacer recortes de personalto reduce the workforce of
- hacer recortes de plantillato reduce the workforce of
- reajustar la plantillato reduce the workforce of
Swedish skära ned
- skära nedto reduce in size or number
Cite this entry
downsize. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downsize
“downsize.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downsize. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “downsize,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/downsize.
Source: downsize on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.