decentralized

5 synonyms and 2 antonyms for decentralized, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Adjective — Organised so that control, decision-making or data is spread across many independent points rather than held by one central authority.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

distributed

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

dispersed

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

devolved federated decentralised

Synonyms by Meaning

1. adjective

Organised so that control, decision-making or data is spread across many independent points rather than held by one central authority.

“Bitcoin runs on a decentralized network with no bank or government in charge.”

distributed devolved dispersed federated decentralised

Opposites

centralized centralised

2. verb

Past tense and past participle of decentralize: to move power, functions or resources away from a central body to smaller local ones.

“Health services were decentralized to the county councils in the 1990s.”

Opposites

centralized

How to use decentralized

The word patterns that sound natural to a native speaker.

decentralized network decentralized finance decentralized governance fully decentralized

Neutral; heavily used in technology, finance, politics and management.

Etymology

Formed from de- ('reverse, remove') plus centralize, itself from central.

Full origin of decentralized →

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between decentralized and distributed?

A distributed system simply runs on many machines, which may still answer to one owner — a cloud service is distributed but not decentralized. A decentralized system also spreads authority, so no single party can control or shut it down.

Is it spelt decentralized or decentralised?

Both are correct. -ized is standard in American English and also accepted in British English (Oxford style); -ised is the more usual British newspaper spelling. Pick one and use it consistently.

What does decentralized mean in crypto?

It means the ledger is kept and verified by many independent computers rather than by a bank or company, so no single operator can alter balances or block a transaction on their own.

People also searched

distributed dispersed centralized federated centralised

Nearby words

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