What does "degenerate" mean?
One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person.
Degenerate
/dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt/ adj, noun, verb
adj, noun, verb ·Very common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral or corrupt person.
- Grammar: degenerate is listed as adj, noun, verb.
- Nearest alternatives: abandoned, adulterate, age related decline, alloy.
- Useful contrasts: civilizational flourishing, civilized, civilized world.
- Usage evidence: There remain great fears of seeing the clashes degenerate into massacres.
How to use "degenerate"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "degenerate" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "degenerate" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "degenerate" as the right word for your sentence.
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Compare nearby meanings
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- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "degenerate" is acting as adj, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "abandoned" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
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Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "degenerate", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 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 a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior wordnet
Verb
- 1 To lose good or desirable qualities. intransitive
"His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital."
- 2 grow progressively worse wordnet
- 3 To cause to lose good or desirable qualities. transitive
Adjective
- 1 Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
- 2 Having lost good or desirable qualities; hence also having bad character or habits, base, immoral, corrupt. ABR
"faint-hearted and degenerate king"
- 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 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 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
- 6 Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
- 7 Having the same quantum energy level.
Adjective
- 1 unrestrained by convention or morality wordnet
Synonyms
All synonymsAntonyms
Example
"There remain great fears of seeing the clashes degenerate into massacres."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "degenerate"?
Common synonyms include: abandoned, adulterate, age related decline, alloy, alter, altered.
How do you use "degenerate" in a sentence?
There remain great fears of seeing the clashes degenerate into massacres.
How do you pronounce "degenerate"?
Pronounced /dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt/.
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.