noun (plural de ·gen ·er ·ates)

somebody immoral or corrupt: somebody who is in a bad condition, especially as a result of immoral behavior



intransitive verb (past de ·gen ·er ·at ·ed, past participle de ·gen ·er ·at ·ed, present participle de ·gen ·er ·at ·ing, 3rd person present singular de ·gen ·er ·ates)

1. become worse: to develop into a condition that is worse than before, worse than normal, or not as good as it should be


2. biology- become useless: to become less specialized or lose the ability to function ( refers to organisms or body parts )



adjective

1. in a worsened condition: in a condition that is worse than normal or worse than before


2. inferior: in a condition that is worse than an original or previous state


3. physics- equal in energy: used to describe a system in which different quantum states have equal energy


4. biology- with reduced or absent part: used to describe a part, or an organism with a part, that has become reduced in size or function, or lost completely, during the history of its species or compared to related species




[15th century. From Latin degenerare , literally “to depart from your own kind, ”from genus “kind. ”]


de ·gen ·er ·ate ·ly adverb
de ·gen ·er ·ate ·ness noun

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