51³Ō¹Ļ

Advertisement

View synonyms for

degenerate

[dih-jen-uh-reyt, dih-jen-er-it]

verb (used without object)

degenerated, degenerating 
  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: , , ,
  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.Ģżto lose functional activity, as a tissue or organ.

  4. Evolution.Ģż(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)

degenerated, degenerating 
  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.Ģżpertaining to a limiting case of a mathematical system that is more symmetrical or simpler in form than the general case.

  5. Physics.Ģż

    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

ā€œCollins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridgedā€ 2012 Digital Edition Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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

ā€œCollins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridgedā€ 2012 Digital Edition Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

noun

  1. a degenerate person

ā€œCollins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridgedā€ 2012 Digital Edition Ā© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 Ā© HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
Discover More

Other 51³Ō¹Ļ Forms

  • degenerately adverb
  • degenerateness noun
  • nondegenerate adjective
  • nondegenerately adverb
  • nondegenerateness noun
  • predegenerate adjective
  • undegenerate adjective
  • undegenerated adjective
  • undegenerating adjective
  • »å±šĖˆ²µ±š²Ō±š°ł²¹³Ł±š²Ō±š²õ²õ noun
  • »å±šĖˆ²µ±š²Ō±š°ł²¹³Ł±š±ō²ā adverb
Discover More

51³Ō¹Ļ History and Origins

Origin of degenerate1

First recorded in 1485–95; from Latin »åŧ²µ±š²Ō±š°łÄå³Ł³Ü²õ ā€œdeclined,ā€ past participle of »åŧ²µ±š²Ō±š°łÄå°ł±š ā€œto decline from an ancestral standard, deteriorateā€; equivalent to de- + generate
Discover More

51³Ō¹Ļ History and Origins

Origin of degenerate1

C15: from Latin »åŧ²µ±š²Ō±š°łÄå°ł±š, from »åŧ²µ±š²Ō±š°ł departing from its kind, ignoble, from de- + genus origin, race
Discover More

Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

The sources of modern art, according to social critic Max Nordau, were decadent, corrupted societies whose artists, afflicted with ā€œdegenerationā€ as a form of mental illness, could only produce work reflecting their degenerate selves.

From

ā€œFor me, the whole value in sports has been degenerated,ā€ Logan said.

From

But horizontally, under glass in a large table, this caught my attention: an engrossing collection of 1930s and 1940s newspaper clippings Picasso kept — he was quite the packrat — about the Hitler ā€œdegenerateā€ purges.

From

One accused Vargas Llosa of having a "degenerate mind".

From

Fascism is always an ideology based on the belief that modern society has become weak and degenerate, and that the cure is purging certain people.

From

Advertisement

Related 51³Ō¹Ļs

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement

Advertisement


degeneracy pressuredegenerate matter