激減（げきげん、gekiげn）
- sharp decrease

The Japanese word 激減 (げきげん, gekigen) means a drastic reduction, a sharp decrease, or a significant decline. It implies a sudden and substantial drop in quantity, amount, value, or intensity. It suggests a more significant decrease than words like 減る (へる, heru - to decrease) or 減らす (へらす, herasu - to reduce). The word emphasizes the severity or suddenness of the reduction.

⚫︎ 売上が激減した。 Translation: Sales drastically decreased. ⚫︎ 人口が激減している。 Translation: The population is sharply declining. ⚫︎ コストを大幅に激減させる。 Translation: To drastically reduce costs.

⚫︎ This word is suitable for formal and informal situations. ⚫︎ It is used when describing a considerable and often unexpected decrease. ⚫︎ It's common in business, economics, science, and news reports. ⚫︎ It can describe a decline in physical quantities, abstract concepts, or even the severity of something like pain or anger.

⚫︎ This word is typically written in kanji as 激減. ⚫︎ The reading is げきげん in hiragana. ⚫︎ The word does not use katakana. ⚫︎ There are no variations in the okurigana. ⚫︎ The word itself is a noun or a suru-verb (verb that is made from noun + する).

⚫︎ 大幅な減少 (おおはばなげんしょう - a large decrease) ⚫︎ 急減 (きゅうげん - rapid decrease) ⚫︎ 急激な減少 (きゅうげきなげんしょう - abrupt decrease) ⚫︎ 激しい減少 (はげしいげんしょう - intense decrease) ⚫︎ 大幅に減る (おおはばにへる - to decrease significantly) ⚫︎ 激しく減る (はげしくへる - to decrease intensely) ⚫︎ 大幅に削減する (おおはばにさくげんする - to cut significantly)

⚫︎ 増加 (ぞうか - increase) ⚫︎ 増大 (ぞうだい - expansion) ⚫︎ 増える (ふえる - to increase) ⚫︎ 増やす (ふやす - to increase)

最近、あの会社の株価は激減しました。 ・Translation: Recently, that company's stock price has drastically decreased. ・Explanation: This sentence illustrates how 激減 is used to describe a sudden and significant drop in the stock price of a company.

インフレの影響で、消費者の購買力が激減した。 ・Translation: Due to the effects of inflation, consumer purchasing power has drastically decreased. ・Explanation: This example shows how 激減 is used to talk about the influence of inflation on consumers' spending.

The word 激減 is composed of two kanji: 激 (geki) meaning "violent," "intense," or "drastic," and 減 (gen) meaning "to decrease" or "to reduce". Thus, the combination of the two characters strongly emphasizes the meaning of a substantial and often sudden decrease.