deindustrialization

noun

de·​in·​dus·​tri·​al·​i·​za·​tion (ˌ)dē-in-ˌdə-strē-ə-lə-ˈzā-shən 

: the reduction or destruction of a nation's or region's industrial capacity

deindustrialize

(ˌ)dē-in-ˈdə-strē-ə-ˌlīz 

verb

Examples of deindustrialization in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Together, these trends led to the United Kingdom’s gradual deindustrialization and eventual decline. —Kurt M. Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 10 Apr. 2025

This is the deindustrialization process that the US and Western Europe have experienced in recent decades. —Dylan Matthews, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018

Reuther’s advocacy illuminates how free trade wasn’t the villain in the story of deindustrialization that it has long been made out to be. — Made By History, Time, 21 Apr. 2025

Contemporary sociology invites us, perhaps rightly, to extend the traditional concept to include the working-class experience of deindustrialization and the precarity of the white-collar knowledge worker denied a secure job. —Nikhil Krishnan, New Yorker, 31 Mar. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1940, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for deindustrialization

• immunoprecipitation
• individualisation
• individualization
• institutionalisation
• institutionalization
• internationalization
• neovascularization
• operationalization
• abbreviation
• abomination
• acceleration
• accentuation