degenerate

[ verb dih-jen-uh-reyt; adjective noun dih-jen-er-it ]

verb (used without object)

, de·gen·er·at·ed, de·gen·er·at·ing.

1. 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

2. to diminish in quality, especially from a former state of coherence, balance, integrity, etc.:

   The debate degenerated into an exchange of insults.

3. Pathology. to lose functional activity, as a tissue or organ.
4. 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)

, de·gen·er·at·ed, de·gen·er·at·ing.

1. to cause degeneration in; bring about a decline, deterioration, or reversion in.

adjective

1. having fallen below a normal or desirable level, especially in physical or moral qualities; deteriorated; degraded:

   a degenerate king.

2. having lost, or become impaired with respect to, the qualities proper to the species or kind:

   a degenerate vine.

3. characterized by or associated with degeneracy:

   degenerate times.

4. Mathematics. pertaining to a limiting case of a mathematical system that is more symmetrical or simpler in form than the general case.
5. Physics.
   1. (of modes of vibration of a system) having the same frequency.
   2. (of quantum states of a system) having equal energy.

noun

1. a person who has declined, as in morals or character, from a type or standard considered normal.
2. a person or thing that reverts to an earlier stage of culture, development, or evolution.
3. a sexual deviate.

degenerate

verb

1. to become degenerate
2. biology (of organisms or their parts) to become less specialized or functionally useless

adjective

1. having declined or deteriorated to a lower mental, moral, or physical level; debased; degraded; corrupt
2. physics
   1. (of the constituents of a system) having the same energy but different wave functions
   2. (of a semiconductor) containing a similar number of electrons in the conduction band to the number of electrons in the conduction band of metals
   3. (of a resonant device) having two or more modes of equal frequency
3. (of a code) containing symbols that represent more than one letter, figure, etc
4. (of a plant or animal) having undergone degeneration

noun

1. a degenerate person

Derived Forms

• deˈgenerateness, noun
• deˈgenerately, adverb

Other Words From

• de·gener·ate·ly adverb
• de·gener·ate·ness noun
• nonde·gener·ate adjective noun
• nonde·gener·ate·ly adverb
• nonde·gener·ate·ness noun
• prede·gener·ate adjective
• unde·gener·ate adjective
• unde·gener·ated adjective
• unde·gener·ating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of degenerate¹

First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin dēgenerātus “declined,” past participle of dēgenerāre “to decline from an ancestral standard, deteriorate”; equivalent to de- + generate

Word History and Origins

Origin of degenerate¹

C15: from Latin dēgenerāre, from dēgener departing from its kind, ignoble, from de- + genus origin, race

Example Sentences

Trump has fired back at such comments, calling Kelly a “total degenerate” in a post last month on TruthSocial.

From Los Angeles Times

Trump fired back at Kelly’s testimony on Wednesday, calling former chief of staff a “total degenerate” and “lowlife” in a Truth Social post denying some of his allegations.

From Salon

He also correctly predicted that the war on terror would degenerate into folly, tragedy and war crimes, with a side order of corrupt contracting and bureaucratic empire-building.

From Salon

And it explains the reason for the prohibition: “Those who choose to vote have a right not to have the voting process diluted with ballots that have been procured through bribery; and that the selection of the nation’s leaders should not degenerate into a spending contest, with the victor being the candidate who can pay the most voters.”

From Slate

It’s been a huge month for all the degenerate gamblers hoping to cash in on the United States’ elections.

From Slate

Related Words

• descend
• disintegrate
• lapse
• lessen
• regress
• revert
• worsen