Refine this word faster

Stronger alternatives Opposite tone Use in context Cross-language nuance

Degenerate

//dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt// adj, noun, verb

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
  2. 2
    Having lost good or desirable qualities; hence also having bad character or habits, base, immoral, corrupt. ABR

    "faint-hearted and degenerate king"

  3. 3
    Having lost functionality in general.

    "It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted."

  4. 4
    Having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range.

    "The genetic code is degenerate because a single amino acid can be coded by one of several codons."

  5. 5
    Qualitatively different, usually simpler, than typical objects of its class.

    "A degenerate circle, having radius zero, consists of a single point."

Show 2 more definitions
  1. 6
    Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
  2. 7
    Having the same quantum energy level.
Adjective
  1. 1
    unrestrained by convention or morality wordnet
Noun
  1. 1
    One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person.

    "In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy."

  2. 2
    a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior wordnet
Verb
  1. 1
    To lose good or desirable qualities. intransitive

    "His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital."

  2. 2
    grow progressively worse wordnet
  3. 3
    To cause to lose good or desirable qualities. transitive

Etymology

Etymology 1

Learned borrowing from Latin dēgenerātus. See -ate (adjective-forming suffix) for more.

Etymology 2

From a substantivation of the above adjective, see -ate (noun-forming suffix) for more. Compare French dégénéré.

Etymology 3

From Latin degenerō + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare Italian degenerare, French dégénérer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, degener). By surface analysis, de- + generate.

See also for "degenerate"

Synonyms Antonyms Rhymes Sentences Translate Word Type Pronunciation Word Forms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsSee usage examplesCheck pronunciation

Mini challenge

Unscramble this word: degenerate