devalue (Transitive / Intransitive)

[Shandol]

Definitions from Oxford Languages:

reduce the official value of (a currency) in relation to other currencies.
"the dinar was devalued by 20 per cent"

Definitions from Dictionary.com:

verb (used without object), de·val·ued, de·val·u·ing.
to undergo devaluation:
The currency has devalued at a rapid rate.

Do you normally use the verb (in the sense given) transitively or intransitively?

What do you think about the examples? Both plausible?

 

[owlman5]

Do you normally use the verb (in the sense given) transitively or intransitively?

I hardly use it at all. When I encounter it in literature or conversation, people generally use it transitively.

 

[Shandol]

I hardly use it at all.

Then, what do you use instead, decrease in value?

 

[owlman5]

Then, what do you use instead, decrease in value?

I don't avoid devalue, Shandol, but I rarely have any need to talk about things that decrease in value. When I do have such a need, the word inflation generally suffices to express the idea: Inflation is really bad these days. Twenty dollars doesn't buy much at the gas pump or the grocery store.

 

[billj]

Definitions from Oxford Languages:


Definitions from Dictionary.com:


Do you normally use the verb (in the sense given) transitively or intransitively?

What do you think about the examples? Both plausible?

Yes, they're fine. The verb "devalue" is also often used transitively:

The government devalued the currency by x%.

 

[PaulQ]

What do you think about the examples? Both plausible?

The examples are in two, reasonable, dictionaries. Why would there be a need for an opinion?

In English, there is a large number of verbs that are "ambitransitive", i.e. can be used transitively or intransitively.

The choice between the two depends on the context and on style.

She placed the meal on the table and he ate hungrily. Intransitive
She placed the meal on the table and he ate it. Transitive.