degenerate

C2+ Topic:Describing Qualities

US /dɪˈdʒɛnərət/ UK /dɪˈdʒɛnərət/ See IPA manual

Meanings

1

adj
having declined from a former or normal state of moral or physical quality

Critics dismissed the regime as a degenerate shadow of its founders.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 adj · having declined from a... deteriorate decline decay worsen debased depraved corrupt decadent

Opposites

improve regenerate flourish ascend virtuous

Word family

Derived forms degeneracy degenerationdegenerativedegenerately

Related forms generate genus generation regenerate

Simplified etymology

Degenerate, recorded from the late Middle English period, ultimately derives from Latin genus, meaning “birth, family, nation.” It belongs to the same historical word family as gender, generate, generation, and genus.

Etymology

From Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare ('to depart from one's race or kind, decline'), from de- ('away from') + genus ('race, kind, birth').

degenerare Latin genus Latin *ǵenh₁- Proto-Indo-European

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Describing Qualities Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# degenerate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C2+
**Part of speech:** adj
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈdʒɛnərət/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈdʒɛnərət/

## Meanings
1. having declined from a former or normal state of moral or physical quality

## Examples
- Critics dismissed the regime as a degenerate shadow of its founders.

## Synonyms
- deteriorate
- decline
- decay
- worsen
- debased
- depraved
- corrupt
- decadent

## Antonyms
- improve
- regenerate
- flourish
- ascend
- virtuous

## Derived Forms
- degeneracy
- degeneration
- degenerative
- degenerately

## Related Forms
- generate
- genus
- generation
- regenerate

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: degenerare
- Root: genus
- Root: *ǵenh₁-

## Etymology
From Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare ('to depart from one's race or kind, decline'), from de- ('away from') + genus ('race, kind, birth').

## AI Etymology
Degenerate is from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare ('to depart from one's race or kind, decline'), from de- ('away from') + genus ('race, kind, birth'). Important recorded forms include degenerare (Latin), genus (Latin), and *ǵenh₁- (Proto-Indo-European). Morphologically, the word is a built form whose named elements carry part of the historical sense. The current sense covers having declined from a former or normal state of moral or physical quality. The wider family includes derived forms such as degeneracy, degeneration, degenerative, and degenerately and related words such as generate, genus, generation, and regenerate.

## Topics
- Describing Qualities
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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