degenerate
pronunciation
How to pronounce degenerate in British English:
UK [dɪˈdʒenərət]
How to pronounce degenerate in American English:
US [dɪˈdʒenərət]
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- Noun:
- a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
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- Verb:
- grow worse
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- Adjective:
- unrestrained by convention or morality
Word Origin
- degenerate (adj.)
- late 15c., from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare "to be inferior to one's ancestors, to become unlike one's race or kind, fall from ancestral quality," used of physical as well as moral qualities, from phrase de genere, from de + genus (genitive generis) "birth, descent" (see genus). The noun is from 1550s.
- degenerate (v.)
- 1540s, from Latin degeneratus, past participle of degenerare "fall from ancestral quality" (see degenerate (adj.)). Figurative sense of "to fall off, decline" was in Latin. Related: Degenerated; degenerating.
Example
- 1. Then you 'll degenerate still more .
- 2. Naturally these societies degenerate into savagery .
- 3. Although sperm have mitochondria , they degenerate shortly after fertilization of the egg .
- 4. Degenerate daughters corrupt their father .
- 5. Was yiddish a degenerate linguistic compromise , or the essential literary and political medium ?