Meaning of diminishing returns | Babel Free

Definitions

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.

idiomatic, plural, plural-only

Equivalents

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.”

“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⟳.”

“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.”

CEFR level