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degenerate
[ verb dih-jen-uh-reyt; adjective noun dih-jen-er-it ]
verb (used without object)
- to fall below a normal or desirable level in physical, mental, or moral qualities; deteriorate:
The morale of the soldiers degenerated, and they were unable to fight.
Synonyms: retrogress, backslide, decline, worsen
- to diminish in quality, especially from a former state of coherence, balance, integrity, etc.:
The debate degenerated into an exchange of insults.
- Pathology. to lose functional activity, as a tissue or organ.
- Evolution. (of a species or any of its traits or structures) to revert to a simple, less highly organized, or less functionally active type, as a parasitic plant that has lost its taproot or the vestigial wings of a flightless bird.
verb (used with object)
- to cause degeneration in; bring about a decline, deterioration, or reversion in.
adjective
- having fallen below a normal or desirable level, especially in physical or moral qualities; deteriorated; degraded:
a degenerate king.
- having lost, or become impaired with respect to, the qualities proper to the species or kind:
a degenerate vine.
- characterized by or associated with degeneracy:
degenerate times.
- Mathematics. pertaining to a limiting case of a mathematical system that is more symmetrical or simpler in form than the general case.
- Physics.
- (of modes of vibration of a system) having the same frequency.
- (of quantum states of a system) having equal energy.
noun
- a person who has declined, as in morals or character, from a type or standard considered normal.
- a person or thing that reverts to an earlier stage of culture, development, or evolution.
- a sexual deviate.
degenerate
verb
- to become degenerate
- biology (of organisms or their parts) to become less specialized or functionally useless
adjective
- having declined or deteriorated to a lower mental, moral, or physical level; debased; degraded; corrupt
- physics
- (of the constituents of a system) having the same energy but different wave functions
- (of a semiconductor) containing a similar number of electrons in the conduction band to the number of electrons in the conduction band of metals
- (of a resonant device) having two or more modes of equal frequency
- (of a code) containing symbols that represent more than one letter, figure, etc
- (of a plant or animal) having undergone degeneration
noun
- a degenerate person
Derived Forms
- deˈgenerateness, noun
- deˈgenerately, adverb
Other Words From
- de·gener·ate·ly adverb
- de·gener·ate·ness noun
- nonde·gener·ate adjective noun
- nonde·gener·ate·ly adverb
- nonde·gener·ate·ness noun
- prede·gener·ate adjective
- unde·gener·ate adjective
- unde·gener·ated adjective
- unde·gener·ating adjective
Word History and Origins
Origin of degenerate1
Word History and Origins
Origin of degenerate1
Example Sentences
Then, with a grin, “And we all know how degenerate those people are.”
The popular narrative is that Hitler and his Nazi regime thought all modern art was "degenerate."
Being a fan of Liquid Sky carries the cachet of degenerate hipness to this day, 32 years after it was filmed.
Few of us would argue that such thoughts render someone a moral degenerate—or even as grievously ignorant.
Protests that routinely degenerate into rock-throwing are not, in fact, nonviolent.
What the armor-bearer was for the warlike races of old, such is the tchbukdi for their degenerate descendants.
Avoid sarcasm; it will, unconsciously to yourself, degenerate into pertness, and often downright rudeness.
He observes, also, that these grapes degenerate in the south, but do well in the north in dry and stony soil.
We infer from his writings that his age was degenerate and corrupt, but, as we have already said, his reproofs were gentle.
The Curaoa track is hardly passable, but it must be trod to-morrow by the degenerate feet of their successor the Wallaroos.
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