Degeneration
/dɪˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən/
Definitions
The act or process of becoming worse or declining.
/dɪˌdʒɛnəˈreɪʃən/
The process of becoming worse, or declining in quality or strength.
The artist's work showed a clear degeneration in style over the years.
💡 Simply: Imagine a favorite toy that slowly breaks down and loses its function. Degeneration is like that, but for ideas, health, or anything that gets worse over time.
👶 For kids: When something that was good slowly gets worse.
More Examples
The city center suffered from urban degeneration due to neglect.
The disease caused a rapid degeneration of the patient's vision.
How It's Used
"The doctors are studying the degeneration of the patient's brain cells."
"Some believe that modern society is experiencing moral degeneration."
"Osteoarthritis is caused by the degeneration of cartilage."
From Late Latin *degeneratio*, from *degenerare* ('to degenerate'), from *de-* ('away, down') + *genus* ('race, kind').
The term has been used since the 16th century to describe a decline from a former state of excellence or quality, often applied to social or moral contexts.
Memory tip
Think of a deteriorating garden – a process of degeneration.
Word Origin
"to become worse; to decline"