decided

Pluraldecideds

1. 1
   verb

   Simple past and past participle of decide.

   The committee decided the matter after a long debate.

   Once the judges had decided, the results were announced.

   Note

   One spelling does two jobs: the simple past (they decided at noon) and the participle that follows have or be (it has been decided). Because decide can also mean to bring someone else to a choice, the past can take a person as its object: that letter decided me. From here it is a short step to the "resolute" adjective, which can be graded (more decided, most decided) as no verb form can.

2. 2
   adjective

   Clearly evident and not open to question; unmistakable, definite, and easily recognized.

   The new pricing gave the company a decided edge in the market.

   Critics noted a decided shift in the author's later style.

   Similardistinct, clear, definite, marked, unmistakable

   Oppositeslight, marginal

   Note

   Usually it sits before a noun of degree or difference, such as a decided victory, a decided improvement, or even a decided ugliness. It works almost as an intensifier, saying the quality is beyond dispute. The Railway Magazine of November 1954 calls new arrival indicators at Euston "a decided improvement", which shows the typical tone: measured, a little formal, and approving without exaggeration.

3. 3
   adjective

   Firm and resolute in one's intentions; showing determination rather than hesitation.

   She was quite decided in her refusal to compromise.

   His decided manner left no room for argument.

   Similarresolute, firm, determined, decisive, adamant

   Oppositehesitant, irresolute, undecided, wavering

   Note

   Here the firmness belongs to a person and to what comes from them: a woman of decided opinions, a decided manner, a decided tone. Beside the "unmistakable" meaning, the test is what it describes. Decided views are held firmly by someone, while a decided improvement is simply plain to see. When the noun is a person or their outlook, read it as resolve. It grades normally: more decided, most decided.

4. 4
   nouncountable

   A voter or similar respondent who has already settled on a choice.

   By election day, most decideds had locked in their preferences.

   The campaign focused less on each decided and more on the undecided middle.

   Oppositeundecided

   Note

   A noun made from the adjective, at home in poll analysis and usually met in the plural beside its counterpart, undecideds. Herb Asher's Polling and the Public (2016) warns of a flawed procedure "if the undecideds differ in major ways from the decideds." Outside talk of surveys and campaigns it reads as jargon, so in ordinary prose "those who have decided" is the safer choice.

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