: a lowering of effective power, vitality, or essential quality to an enfeebled and worsened kind or state
the country's degeneration into chaos
… enacts the degeneration of politics into televisual entertainment … Linda Holt
3
: intellectual, moral, or artistic decline
Many of her stories show the degeneration of a principled person into a lethal one … Susannah Clapp
… argue that the tradition has radically devolved, and that books like "The Kiss," by Kathryn Harrison, represent the degeneration of a once ennobled form. Deborah E. McDowell
4
biology
a
: progressive deterioration of physical characters from a level representing the norm of earlier generations or forms
b
: deterioration of a tissue or an organ in which its function is diminished or its structure is impaired
deterioration implies generally the impairment of value or usefulness.
the deterioration of the house through neglect
degeneration stresses physical, intellectual, or especially moral retrogression.
the degeneration of their youthful idealism into cynicism
decadence presupposes a reaching and passing the peak of development and implies a turn downward with a consequent loss in vitality or energy.
cited love of luxury as a sign of cultural decadence
decline differs from decadence in suggesting a more markedly downward direction and greater momentum as well as more obvious evidence of deterioration.
the meteoric decline of his career after the scandal
Example Sentences
the organization's degeneration from a movement for political reform to just another political party the troubling degeneration of his memory since he reached middle age
Recent Examples on the WebDiseases of the retina and age-related degeneration can lead to impaired vision. Connie Chang Chinchio, Popular Mechanics, 25 Aug. 2022 Former Denver Broncos wide receiver Demaryius Thomas had stage 2 chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a form of brain degeneration that has been found in other athletes, his family announced Tuesday. Minyvonne Burke, NBC News, 5 July 2022 Hampton offers this kind of degeneration story about cheerfulness. Ian Beacock, The Atlantic, 2 Aug. 2022 Macular degeneration, for example, has so far been difficult to study because living human eye tissue has been impossible to access. Tanya Lewis, Scientific American, 20 July 2022 Sudden acquired retinal degeneration syndrome turned off the lights in a matter of weeks. Tony Quiroga, Car and Driver, 20 July 2022 An acute, full-thickness tear in a person with an otherwise normal shoulder is usually treated with immediate surgery to prevent muscle atrophy and further joint degeneration. Dr. Keith Roach, oregonlive, 29 June 2022 In South Africa, preventive lockdowns cause poverty, job losses, and declines in tax revenues, resulting in further service delivery degeneration. Glen Retief, The New Republic, 11 May 2022 The woman told police that Thomas suffered several concussions playing football and might have CTE — the term commonly used for brain degeneration caused by head trauma. Ryan Autullo, USA TODAY, 6 May 2022 See More