deteriorate

C1 Topic:Cause, Change & Process

US /dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/ UK /dɪˈtɪə.ɹɪə.ɹeɪt/ See IPA manual

Freq #29441

Meanings

1

verb
To become worse over time.

The patient's condition deteriorated overnight.
2

verb
To make something worse or lower in quality.

Pollution can deteriorate the quality of drinking water.

Thesaurus

Synonyms

1 verb · to become worse over time. drop

More degeneratenerfweaken worsen

Opposites

ameliorate better improve revamp

Word family

Forms deteriorateddeterioratesdeteriorating

Derived forms biodeterioratedeterioratorundeteriorated

Related forms deteriorabledeteriorationdeteriorative

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from Latin dēterior (“worse”). Cognate with French détériorer.

dēteriorātus la-lat dēteriorō la-lat dēterior Latin

View etymology graph ->

Topics

Cause, Change & Process Actions & Processes Word Formation & Derivatives

External links

# deteriorate

**Type:** Word
**Level:** C1
**Part of speech:** verb
**IPA (US):** /dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/
**IPA (UK):** /dɪˈtɪə.ɹɪə.ɹeɪt/
**Frequency rank:** 29441

## Meanings
1. To become worse over time.
2. To make something worse or lower in quality.

## Examples
- The patient's condition deteriorated overnight.
- Pollution can deteriorate the quality of drinking water.

## Synonyms
- degenerate
- nerf
- weaken
- worsen

## Antonyms
- ameliorate
- better
- improve
- revamp

## Derived Forms
- biodeteriorate
- deteriorator
- undeteriorated

## Related Forms
- deteriorable
- deterioration
- deteriorative

## Roots and Affixes
- Root: dēteriorātus
- Root: dēteriorō
- Root: dēterior

## Etymology
Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from Latin dēterior (“worse”). Cognate with French détériorer.

## AI Etymology
Deteriorate is a learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from Latin dēterior (“worse”). Cognate with French détériorer. The historical chain includes dēteriorātus (Late Latin), dēteriorō (Late Latin), and dēterior (Latin). The surrounding word family includes derived forms such as biodeteriorate, deteriorator, and undeteriorated and related forms such as deteriorable, deterioration, and deteriorative. In present use it covers to become worse over time and to make something worse or lower in quality.

## Topics
- Cause, Change & Process
- Actions & Processes
- Word Formation & Derivatives

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