degenerative

[ dih-jen-er-uh-tiv, -uh-rey-tiv ]

adjective

1. tending to degenerate.
2. characterized by degeneration.

degenerative

/ dɪˈdʒɛnəˌreɪtɪv /

adjective

1. (of a disease or condition) getting steadily worse

Other Words From

• nonde·gener·a·tive adjective
• unde·gener·a·tive adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of degenerative¹

First recorded in 1840–50; degenerate + -ive

Example Sentences

Those photoreceptor cells are the first to die in the degenerative disease.

From Science News

CTE is a degenerative disease caused by repetitive hits to the head that is commonly associated with contact sports, including football.

From Washington Post

McKee observed what she says are “all the classic signs” of severe chronic traumatic encephalopathy, or CTE, the degenerative brain disease associated with the repeated blows to the head common in football and boxing.

From Washington Post

Caldwell has several service-related injuries and other disabilities, his attorney said, including injuries to his shoulders, degenerative lumbar disc disease and chronic knee pain.

From Washington Post

The star of the feature-length Climbing Blind, Jesse Dufton, leads the trad route—but with the additional challenge of not being able to see it, as he was born with a degenerative eye disease that’s left him basically only able to perceive light.

From Outside Online

In this degenerative illness, patients lose the function of the left half of their brain.

From The Daily Beast

I learned that he had a degenerative disease and might not live long enough even to finish his Ph.D. degree.

From The Daily Beast

The cop had read a newspaper story about Lanza, and had a teenage son who was slowly going blind from a degenerative eye disease.

From The Daily Beast

He was elevated by hope for an antidote to what felt like a toxic, degenerative condition.

From The Daily Beast

Any epithelial cell may be so granular from degenerative changes that the nucleus is obscured.

From Project Gutenberg

As with the grown woman, so with the child, the degenerative form of hysteria makes those subject to it untrustworthy witnesses.

From Project Gutenberg

What influences of a degenerative nature are likely to affect them?

From Project Gutenberg

But, as will presently be shown, a change of direction cannot take place at every stage of the degenerative process.

From Project Gutenberg

The condition, moreover, has a tendency to set into action degenerative tendencies latent in the liver and kidneys.

From Project Gutenberg

Related Words

• backward
• deteriorating
• regressive
• retrogressive