degenerate
1 of 3adjective
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈjen-rət 
-ˈje-nə-,
dē-
1
a
: having declined or become less specialized (as in nature, character, structure, or function) from an ancestral or former state
the last degenerate member of a noble family
W. E. Swinton
W. E. Swinton b
: having sunk to a condition below that which is normal to a type
… fruit so degenerate that the insects weren't even interested … Tamar Perla
Tamar Perla especially : having sunk to a lower and usually corrupt and vicious state
a degenerate schemer
a despairing and degenerate world had sunk into servitude beneath him W. L. Sullivan
W. L. Sullivan c
: degraded sense 2
the functionally degenerate wings of the species
2
mathematics : being simpler (as by having a factor or constant equal to zero) than the typical case
a degenerate hyperbola
3
physics and astronomy : characterized by atoms stripped of their electrons and by very great density
degenerate matter
also : consisting of degenerate matter
a degenerate star
4
physics and chemistry : having two or more states or subdivisions especially of the same energy or frequency
degenerate energy level
degenerate oscillation
5
genetics : having more than one codon representing an amino acid
also : being such a codon
degenerately adverb
degenerateness noun
degenerate
2 of 3verb
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈje-nə-ˌrāt
dē-
degenerated; degenerating; degenerates
intransitive verb
1
: to pass from a higher to a lower type or condition : deteriorate
her fixed mysterious smile degenerated into a fatuous stare J. C. Powys
J. C. Powys2
: to sink into a low intellectual or moral state
The debate degenerated into a shouting match.
At the same time, discotheques degenerated into seedier venues … —shifty, often Mob-run last-martini stops for business commuters … Peter Braunstein
Peter Braunstein3
: to decline in quality
the poetry gradually degenerates into jingles
… the sitcom has degenerated into a sparring ring of personal insult James Wolcott
James Wolcott4
biology : to decline from a condition or from the standards of a species, race, or breed
5
biology : to evolve or develop into a less autonomous (see autonomous sense 2a) or less functionally active form
degenerated into dependent parasites
transitive verb
: to cause to degenerate
degenerate
3 of 3noun
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈjen-rət
-ˈje-nə-,
dē-
: one that is degenerate (see degenerate entry 1) : such as
a
: one degraded from the normal moral standard
social degenerates
b
: a sexual pervert
c
anthropology : one showing signs of reversion (see reversion sense 3a) to an earlier culture stage
Synonyms
Adjective
- decadent
- decayed
- effete
- overripe
- washed-up
Verb
- atrophy
- crumble
- decay
- decline
- descend
- deteriorate
- devolve
- ebb
- regress
- retrograde
- rot
- sink
- worsen
Noun
- backslider
- debauchee
- debaucher
- decadent
- deviate
- libertine
- perv
- pervert
- profligate
- rake
- rakehell
- rip
See all Synonyms & Antonyms 
Example Sentences
Adjective He criticizes what he believes is a degenerate society. a degenerate society in which people had no sense of being citizens, only consumers Verb over the years the community-minded organization degenerated into a club for loafers Noun a couple of degenerates on a crime spree a degenerate who is uninterested in anything but his own gratification
Recent Examples on the Web Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 30 Apr. 2022 Unfortunately, the governor has heard from his top-rate prisoner Tom Christie that Jamie is well-respected among the lads and requests that Mac Dubh tightens up the degenerate brood. Lincee Ray, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2022 The welfare state can eradicate poverty by distributing income to all non-workers — or Manchin can falsely smear poor people as degenerate drug addicts and protect rich people (like himself, incidentally) from higher taxes. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 20 Dec. 2021 Fiona Nova and Will Neff; rising livestreamer CodeMiko; and a degenerate rat-puppet named Ratty. Todd Spangler, Variety, 12 Oct. 2021 Prior to the GameStop madness, when the subreddit Wall Street Bets was a quieter community of degenerate gamblers, members tracked Paul Pelosi’s market moves, often treating them as a joke about their own compulsive trading. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2021 Instead of rejecting Ji-Yoon’s degenerate boyfriend, her father sees him safely home. Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2021 Prior to the GameStop madness, when the subreddit Wall Street Bets was a quieter community of degenerate gamblers, members tracked Paul Pelosi’s market moves, often treating them as a joke about their own compulsive trading. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2021 The Nazis viewed French culture as degenerate and dangerous but also as a useful distraction to keep Parisians from rebelling. Timothy Schaffert, WSJ, 23 July 2021 John Blake, CNN, 24 July 2022 Elections do matter, and debates about ideas can certainly degenerate into navel-gazing exercises. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 19 June 2022 In response, China may become more inward looking, even degenerate into another hermit kingdom. Yanzhong Huang, CNN, 30 June 2022 The balance works fairly well, until the proceedings degenerate in the final act into the sort of manic, over-the-top vehicular mayhem that brings the film closer to an animated version of the Fast and Furious franchise. Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Apr. 2022 There is a tradition in far-right propagandist literature, to which Bronze Age Pervert is a modern-day inheritor, of a white male hero who rises up against a liberal, racially mixed, feminist, and/or otherwise degenerate society. Ian Allen, The New Republic, 20 Apr. 2022 Your instinct here is to loll, sprawl, degenerate, create crumbs. James Parker, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2022 History can degenerate into nostalgia from an imaginary golden age, or inspire a utopian quest to erase the past altogether. Richard Cohen, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2022 But just as language can illuminate thought and regenerate politics, so too language can be used to obscure thought and degenerate politics. Mark Satta, The Conversation, 14 Mar. 2022 Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 28 May 2022 Griswold effectively fashioned the portrait of the artist as an erratic degenerate. New York Times, 24 Mar. 2022 When someone has Alzheimer's disease, the person's brain cells that retrieve, process and store information degenerate and die, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Kristen Rogers, CNN, 30 Aug. 2021 The activities often took place at cast members’ ancestral plantations, but sometimes — and this is how Bonaparte, who is not a degenerate, comes in — at Bonaparte’s restaurants. Anna Peele, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2021 In his most famous exchange from the movie, Sally Kellerman’s Margaret Houlihan wonders how such a degenerate doctor as Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye Pierce could reach a position of responsibility in the U.S. Army. Andrew Dealton, USA TODAY, 8 Dec. 2019 Adam Sandler plays a lying degenerate gambler in Uncut Gems, which in its sordid candor turns out to be one of the grabbiest films of the year. Kyle Smith, National Review, 11 Dec. 2019 In his most famous exchange from the movie, Sally Kellerman's Margaret Houlihan wonders how such a degenerate doctor as Donald Sutherland's Hawkeye Pierce could reach a position of responsibility in the U.S. Army. CBS News, 8 Dec. 2019 Besides, too great a concern with origin degenerates too easily into a concern with purity, and folklore is most impure. Kevin Young, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019 See More
Adjective
There was a glorious point in the ‘90s when Matt Damon seemed only to play unassuming boy genius to his degenerate friends, and Rounders is arguably his finest portrayal of the golden boy archetype. Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 30 Apr. 2022 Unfortunately, the governor has heard from his top-rate prisoner Tom Christie that Jamie is well-respected among the lads and requests that Mac Dubh tightens up the degenerate brood. Lincee Ray, EW.com, 7 Mar. 2022 The welfare state can eradicate poverty by distributing income to all non-workers — or Manchin can falsely smear poor people as degenerate drug addicts and protect rich people (like himself, incidentally) from higher taxes. Ryan Cooper, The Week, 20 Dec. 2021 Fiona Nova and Will Neff; rising livestreamer CodeMiko; and a degenerate rat-puppet named Ratty. Todd Spangler, Variety, 12 Oct. 2021 Prior to the GameStop madness, when the subreddit Wall Street Bets was a quieter community of degenerate gamblers, members tracked Paul Pelosi’s market moves, often treating them as a joke about their own compulsive trading. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2021 Instead of rejecting Ji-Yoon’s degenerate boyfriend, her father sees him safely home. Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2021 Prior to the GameStop madness, when the subreddit Wall Street Bets was a quieter community of degenerate gamblers, members tracked Paul Pelosi’s market moves, often treating them as a joke about their own compulsive trading. Walter Shapiro, The New Republic, 12 Aug. 2021 The Nazis viewed French culture as degenerate and dangerous but also as a useful distraction to keep Parisians from rebelling. Timothy Schaffert, WSJ, 23 July 2021 Verb
Gorski also notes that many devout Black Americans have exhibited a form of patriotism that does not degenerate into Christian nationalism. John Blake, CNN, 24 July 2022 Elections do matter, and debates about ideas can certainly degenerate into navel-gazing exercises. Samuel Gregg, National Review, 19 June 2022 In response, China may become more inward looking, even degenerate into another hermit kingdom. Yanzhong Huang, CNN, 30 June 2022 The balance works fairly well, until the proceedings degenerate in the final act into the sort of manic, over-the-top vehicular mayhem that brings the film closer to an animated version of the Fast and Furious franchise. Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, 21 Apr. 2022 There is a tradition in far-right propagandist literature, to which Bronze Age Pervert is a modern-day inheritor, of a white male hero who rises up against a liberal, racially mixed, feminist, and/or otherwise degenerate society. Ian Allen, The New Republic, 20 Apr. 2022 Your instinct here is to loll, sprawl, degenerate, create crumbs. James Parker, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2022 History can degenerate into nostalgia from an imaginary golden age, or inspire a utopian quest to erase the past altogether. Richard Cohen, Smithsonian Magazine, 18 Mar. 2022 But just as language can illuminate thought and regenerate politics, so too language can be used to obscure thought and degenerate politics. Mark Satta, The Conversation, 14 Mar. 2022 Noun
Nothing can top Penny Marshall’s 1992 movie about women playing baseball in the ’40s — Tom Hanks as a lovable degenerate? Washington Post Staff, Washington Post, 28 May 2022 Griswold effectively fashioned the portrait of the artist as an erratic degenerate. New York Times, 24 Mar. 2022 When someone has Alzheimer's disease, the person's brain cells that retrieve, process and store information degenerate and die, according to the Alzheimer's Association. Kristen Rogers, CNN, 30 Aug. 2021 The activities often took place at cast members’ ancestral plantations, but sometimes — and this is how Bonaparte, who is not a degenerate, comes in — at Bonaparte’s restaurants. Anna Peele, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2021 In his most famous exchange from the movie, Sally Kellerman’s Margaret Houlihan wonders how such a degenerate doctor as Donald Sutherland’s Hawkeye Pierce could reach a position of responsibility in the U.S. Army. Andrew Dealton, USA TODAY, 8 Dec. 2019 Adam Sandler plays a lying degenerate gambler in Uncut Gems, which in its sordid candor turns out to be one of the grabbiest films of the year. Kyle Smith, National Review, 11 Dec. 2019 In his most famous exchange from the movie, Sally Kellerman's Margaret Houlihan wonders how such a degenerate doctor as Donald Sutherland's Hawkeye Pierce could reach a position of responsibility in the U.S. Army. CBS News, 8 Dec. 2019 Besides, too great a concern with origin degenerates too easily into a concern with purity, and folklore is most impure. Kevin Young, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019 See More Word History
Etymology
Adjective, Verb, and Noun
Middle English degenerat, from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare to degenerate, from de- + gener-, genus race, kind — more at kin
First Known Use
Adjective
15th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a
Verb
1545, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Noun
1555, in the meaning defined above
Medical Definition
degenerate 1 of 3
adjective
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈjen-(ə-)rət
1
a
: having declined (as in nature, character, structure, or function) from an ancestral or former state
especially : having deteriorated progressively (as in the process of evolution) especially through loss of structure and function
b
: having sunk to a lower and usually corrupt and vicious state
2
: having more than one codon representing an amino acid
also : being such a codon
degenerate
2 of 3intransitive verb
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈjen-ə-ˌrāt
degenerated; degenerating
1
: to sink into a low intellectual or moral state
2
: to pass from a higher to a lower type or condition: as
a
: to gradually deteriorate so that normal function or structure is impaired or lost
the retina degenerated
b
: to decline from the standards of a species, race, or breed
3
: to evolve or develop into a less autonomous or less functionally active form
degenerated into dependent parasites
degenerate
3 of 3noun
de·gen·er·ate di-ˈjen-(ə-)rət
: one that is degenerate: as
a
: one degraded from the normal moral standard
b
: a sexual pervert
degenerate 1 of 3
adjective
1
as in degraded
having lost forcefulness, courage, or spirit a degenerate society in which people had no sense of being citizens, only consumers Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
- degraded
- decayed
- weak
- decadent
- effete
- weakened
- overripe
- washed-up
- decaying
- feeble
- dissolute
- depraved
- declining
- dying
- dissolute
- immoral
- failing
- debased
- debauched
- enfeebled
- debilitated
- soft
- wasted
- enervated
- precious
- enervate
- demoralized
- wimpy
- dissipated
- languid
- waning
- frail
- sapped
- overrefined
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- undecadent
2
as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards a movie about a gang of degenerate drug dealers Synonyms & Similar Words
- degraded
- corrupt
- sick
- depraved
- dissolute
- perverted
- debased
- debauched
- reprobate
- decadent
- crooked
- warped
- loose
- libertine
- demoralized
- vicious
- dissipated
- unclean
- spoiled
- perverse
- dishonest
- unwholesome
- rakish
- immoral
- evil
- wicked
- unprincipled
- bad
- rakehell
- unscrupulous
- bent
- contaminated
- tainted
- sinful
- rakehelly
- cutthroat
- unethical
- jackleg
- miscreant
- iniquitous
- nefarious
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- pure
- uncorrupted
- uncorrupt
- incorruptible
- moral
- virtuous
- ethical
- good
- righteous
- honest
- principled
degenerate
2 of 3noun
as in pervert
a person who has sunk below the normal moral standard a degenerate who is uninterested in anything but his own gratification Synonyms & Similar Words
- pervert
- rake
- libertine
- villain
- deviate
- debaucher
- rip
- playboy
- derelict
- incorrigible
- decadent
- reprobate
- backslider
- perv
- delinquent
- profligate
- debauchee
- rakehell
- scoundrel
- bankrupt
- blackguard
- cad
- heel
- knave
- rogue
- lecher
- satyr
- miscreant
- rascal
- playgirl
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- saint
degenerate
3 of 3verb
as in to deteriorate
to become worse or of less value over the years the community-minded organization degenerated into a club for loafers Synonyms & Similar Words
- deteriorate
- worsen
- descend
- crumble
- decline
- decay
- rot
- atrophy
- retrograde
- devolve
- diminish
- regress
- sink
- ebb
- disintegrate
- weaken
- corrupt
- run to seed
- degrade
- sag
- fall
- decompose
- recede
- sour
- reduce
- dilapidate
- putrefy
- go to pot
- dwindle
- wane
- downsize
- go to seed
- slip
- undermine
- spoil
- molder
- abate
- lower
- languish
- debilitate
- droop
- run down
- break down
- wilt
- lag
- lessen
- de-escalate
- fail
- flag
- waste (away)
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
- improve
- ameliorate
- better
- enrich
- intensify
- develop
- meliorate
- upgrade
- enhance
- strengthen
- progress
- proceed
- advance
- heighten
- fortify
- march
Synonym Chooser
Some common synonyms of degenerate are corrupt, iniquitous, nefarious, vicious, and villainous. While all these words mean "highly reprehensible or offensive in character, nature, or conduct," degenerate suggests having sunk to an especially vicious or enervated condition.
a degenerate regime propped up by foreign powers
While the synonyms corrupt and degenerate are close in meaning, corrupt stresses a loss of moral integrity or probity causing betrayal of principle or sworn obligations.
city hall was rife with corrupt politicians
The synonyms iniquitous and degenerate are sometimes interchangeable, but iniquitous implies absence of all signs of justice or fairness.
an iniquitous system of taxation
The words nefarious and degenerate are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, nefarious suggests flagrant breaching of time-honored laws and traditions of conduct.
the nefarious rackets of organized crime
In some situations, the words vicious and degenerate are roughly equivalent. However, vicious may directly oppose virtuous in implying moral depravity, or may connote malignancy, cruelty, or destructive violence.
a vicious gangster
The meanings of villainous and degenerate largely overlap; however, villainous applies to any evil, depraved, or vile conduct or characteristic.
a villainous assault