deteriorate
Americanverb (used with or without object)
-
to make or become worse or inferior in condition, character, quality, value, etc.
- Synonyms:
- worsen, decline, degenerate
-
to disintegrate or wear away.
verb
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to make or become worse or lower in quality, value, character, etc; depreciate
-
(intr) to wear away or disintegrate
Other Word Forms
- deterioration noun
- deteriorative adjective
- undeteriorated adjective
- undeteriorative adjective
Etymology
Origin of deteriorate
First recorded in 1565–75; from Late Latin dēteriōrātus “made worse,” past participle of dēteriōrāre “to make worse,” from Latin dēterior “worse,” from dē de- + -ter-, element in adjectives relating to spatial orientation + -ior, comparative suffix; exterior, interior
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The Bank's Financial Policy Committee warns this could affect growth and may push up inflation, saying that the UK economic outlook had "deteriorated" as a result.
From BBC
Although not spelt out precisely during the interview, the implication of Block’s trade rationale is that higher unemployment means economic weakness and this would in turn lead to deteriorating corporate financials.
From MarketWatch
“However, due to heightened uncertainty about the Middle East situation, the outlook for business conditions is expected to deteriorate, making the timing of subsequent rate hikes difficult to predict,” they add.
Still, sentiment in the oil-related sector deteriorated sharply amid market volatility, signaling that some businesses are starting to feel the pinch from the fallout of the conflict.
In a sign of how quickly the long-term outlook is deteriorating, that figure increased by nearly $7 trillion in just the past year.
From Barron's
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
