degenerate1 verbdegenerate2 adjectivedegenerate3 noun
degeneratede‧gen‧e‧rate1 /dɪˈdʒenəreɪt/ verb [intransitive] 
Verb TableVERB TABLE
degenerate
| Simple Form | ||
| Present | I, you, we, they | degenerate |
| he, she, it | degenerates | |
| Past | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | degenerated |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have degenerated |
| he, she, it | has degenerated | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had degenerated |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will degenerate |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have degenerated |
| Continuous Form | ||
| Present | I | am degenerating |
| he, she, it | is degenerating | |
| you, we, they | are degenerating | |
| Past | I, he, she, it | was degenerating |
| you, we, they | were degenerating | |
| Present perfect | I, you, we, they | have been degenerating |
| he, she, it | has been degenerating | |
| Past perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | had been degenerating |
| Future | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will be degenerating |
| Future perfect | I, you, he, she, it, we, they | will have been degenerating |
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- Attempts by the UK government to prop up the pound on the exchange markets degenerated into chaos.
- Don't allow your comments to degenerate into a personal attack on the employee.
- There's no denying that our relationship has degenerated over the years.
- What should have been a civilised debate degenerated into an unseemly row between the two sides.
- It degenerated into a three-sided football match, with blue, yellow and red-lit supporters all but waving rattles in support of their teams.
- Nevertheless, a foot sweep does require a lot of power to prevent it from degenerating into no more than a shin attack.
- Paralyzed muscles lost tone and became flaccid; with severe damage they further degenerated through shrinkage and atrophy.
- Some concert promoters have refused to book rap acts after some rap concerts degenerated into violence.
- The regional question has degenerated into adhoc regional study - on-going analysis of the demand-supply equation for land release.
- This soon degenerated into disorder for which there was no remedy.
- To leave a habitat to degenerate and perhaps be destroyed is to injure all its animals, including of course the species concerned.
- Unfortunately, when Graham left office Governor Martinez ignored the system, and it quickly degenerated into make-work.
THESAURUS► deteriorate
to become worsedegenerate into to become worse: · Air quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.· Living conditions here have deteriorated in the past few years.
► get worse to become worse. Get worse is less formal and more common than deteriorate in everyday English: · My eyesight seems to be getting worse.· He’s never been well-behaved, but he’s getting even worse.
► go down to become gradually worse – used especially about the standard of something: · The hotel’s gone down since its management changed.· Nick’s teachers say that his work has gone down recently.
► go downhill to become much worse and be in a very bad condition, especially after a particular time or event: · During the recession the business began to go downhill.· Her health went downhill rapidly after Christmas.
► decline especially written to become gradually worse – used especially about standards of living, education, health etc: · After the war, the standard of living declined.· Over the years, the standard of public transport has declined.
► degenerate formal to become worse, or to become something bad instead of something good: · Relations between the two countries have degenerated.· The debate degenerated into an argument between the two sides.
► escalate to become much worse very quickly – used especially about fighting, violence, or a bad situation: · Further violence could escalate into a full-scale armed conflict.· The political crisis escalated.
► spiral out of control to become worse in a way that cannot be controlled and is extremely serious and worrying: · Police say that the violence has spiralled out of control.· Scientists are worried that global warming could soon spiral out of control.· Costs have been spiralling out of control.
Longman Language Activatorto become worse► get worse · The food here gets worse every day.· My eyesight must be getting worse.· I don't think things can get much worse!get worse and worse · The tension in the flat got worse and worse, and Kate thought about moving out.· Paul's behaviour seems to get worse and worse.
► deteriorate formal to gradually become worse: · If the dispute drags on, conditions in the city could deteriorate.· The US trade position has deteriorated over the past few years.deteriorate rapidly: · Air quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.deteriorate to the level/point/stage where . . . (=to deteriorate so much that a particular problem is caused): · School buildings have deteriorated to the point where they pose a health threat to both students and teachers.
► go down/decline to become gradually worse - use this especially about the quality or standard of something: · He's been very unhappy and depressed recently, and his work has definitely gone down.· The quality of life for pensioners in this country has certainly declined recently.go right down British: · The standard of service has gone right down since the company was privatized.
► worsen if a bad situation worsens , or something worsens it, it becomes worse: · The weather worsened during the night.· The government's bungling attempts to help have only worsened the refugees' plight.· The situation was worsened by Roy's tendency to drink heavily in times of stress.
► go from bad to worse if a situation goes from bad to worse , it is already bad and then becomes even worse: · The rail service has gone from bad to worse since it was privatised.· Things went from bad to worse, and soon the pair were barely talking to each other.
► go downhill to start getting worse, especially after a particular time or event: · Moving in together was a mistake, and things rapidly went downhill.· When things started to go downhill, Kyle began looking for another job.· I said I didn't like baseball, and the interview went downhill from then on.
► suffer if the quality of something suffers , it becomes worse as it begins to be affected by something: · His school work suffered because he was continually worried about his mother.· The ferry line denied that safety would suffer if costs were cut.· Her husband, a lawyer, suffered professionally for having to leave the office early every night.
► slip if standards slip , they get worse, because people are not trying hard enough to keep the standards high: · Standards have slipped in the past few months, and we have to try and improve our performance.let things slip: · He used to make sure his apartment was in immaculate condition, but he's let things slip recently.
► deepen if a bad situation deepens , it gets worse - use this especially about serious political or military problems: · As the crisis deepened, it became clear that the government was losing control.· The company's legal and financial problems are deepening.
► degenerate formal if a situation degenerates , it becomes much worse: · There's no denying that our relationship has degenerated over the years.degenerate into: · Attempts by the UK government to prop up the pound on the exchange markets degenerated into chaos.· What should have been a civilised debate degenerated into an unseemly row between the two sides.· Don't allow your comments to degenerate into a personal attack on the employee.
The conference degenerated into a complete fiasco.—degeneration /dɪˌdʒenəˈreɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]degenerate1 verbdegenerate2 adjectivedegenerate3 noun
degeneratede‧gen‧e‧rate2 /dɪˈdʒenərət/ adjective Word OriginWORD ORIGINdegenerate2
ExamplesOrigin:
1400-1500 Latin degeneratus, from genus ‘type, kind, race’EXAMPLES FROM OTHER DICTIONARIES
Thesaurus- a morally degenerate society
- Expressionism was at one time considered a degenerate form of art.
- He was labelled a degenerate youth by his teachers, and left the town before he was 16.
- A degenerate culture of the gun is seen to embrace all the lost young men in the bush, whatever their allegiances.
- Both sets of inquiries pointed to the existence of a degenerate underclass of the population which formed a residual pool of infection.
- Flames belch from the wreckage, degenerate human beings scrabble for survival, the screen is dark and the aspect brooding.
- Neurones in the myenteric plexus were not identified in the colon and were sparse and appeared degenerate in the appendix and ileum.
- The distant fading signals a run-down age of degenerate belief.
- The ravaging giant of Eirena's territory finds counterparts in other figures depicted as monstrous, cruel, degenerate, and corrupt.
- These particular degenerate cases will be analysed in more detail in the next section.
Longman Language Activatorhaving a bad way of life► immoral
formal morally unacceptable: · My parents think my lifestyle is both dangerous and immoral.· In many such stories, women are portrayed as untrustworthy and immoral.
► decadent a way of living that is decadent is concerned mainly with pleasure and enjoyment, and not with hard work or serious activities: · We spent the whole summer drinking, smoking and lying around. It must sound totally decadent.
► degenerate formal not keeping to many of society's accepted moral standards -- use this especially about someone who behaves in a way that is sexually immoral: · He was labelled a degenerate youth by his teachers, and left the town before he was 16.
The painting was condemned as ‘degenerate’.degenerate1 verbdegenerate2 adjectivedegenerate3 noun
degeneratedegenerate3 noun [countable] ExamplesEXAMPLES FROM THE CORPUS
someone whose behaviour is considered to be morally unacceptable- He regarded gay men as perverted degenerates who were no use to society and should be put to death.
- Or they might shelter piratical degenerates who had become creatures of Chaos.
- She is not an incompetent but a degenerate.
- Why are we idiots and moral degenerates, while they are in vogue?