DEGENERATE

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does degenerate mean? 

• DEGENERATE (noun)
  The noun DEGENERATE has 1 sense:

1. a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

  Familiarity information: DEGENERATE used as a noun is very rare.

• DEGENERATE (adjective)
  The adjective DEGENERATE has 1 sense:

1. unrestrained by convention or morality

  Familiarity information: DEGENERATE used as an adjective is very rare.

• DEGENERATE (verb)
  The verb DEGENERATE has 1 sense:

1. grow worse

  Familiarity information: DEGENERATE used as a verb is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEGENERATE (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

Classified under:

Nouns denoting people

Synonyms:

degenerate; deviant; deviate; pervert

Hypernyms ("degenerate" is a kind of...):

miscreant; reprobate (a person without moral scruples)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "degenerate"):

fetishist (one who engages in fetishism (especially of a sexual nature))

masochist (someone who obtains pleasure from receiving punishment)

nympho; nymphomaniac (a woman with abnormal sexual desires)

child molester; paederast; pederast (a man who has sex (usually sodomy) with a boy as the passive partner)

paedophile; pedophile (an adult who is sexually attracted to children)

sadist (someone who obtains pleasure from inflicting pain on others)

sadomasochist (someone who enjoys both sadism and masochism)

lech; lecher; letch; satyr (man with strong sexual desires)

bugger; sod; sodomist; sodomite (someone who engages in anal copulation (especially a male who engages in anal copulation with another male))

Derivation:

degenerate (unrestrained by convention or morality)

• DEGENERATE (adjective)

Sense 1

Meaning:

Unrestrained by convention or morality

Synonyms:

debauched; degenerate; degraded; dissipated; dissolute; fast; libertine; profligate; riotous

Context example:

fast women

Similar:

immoral (deliberately violating accepted principles of right and wrong)

Derivation:

degenerate (a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior)

• DEGENERATE (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they degenerate    ... he / she / it degenerates   
Past simple: degenerated   
Past participle: degenerated   
-ing form: degenerating   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Grow worse

Classified under:

Verbs of grooming, dressing and bodily care

Synonyms:

degenerate; deteriorate; devolve; drop

Context example:

The discussion devolved into a shouting match

Hypernyms (to "degenerate" is one way to...):

decline; worsen (grow worse)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "degenerate"):

fatigue; jade; pall; tire; weary (lose interest or become bored with something or somebody)

fade; languish (become feeble)

rot; waste (become physically weaker)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s

Derivation:

degeneration (the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality)

degeneration (the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities)

degenerative ((of illness) marked by gradual deterioration of organs and cells along with loss of function)

 Context examples 

Benign lesions tend to be associated with long survival unless the tumor degenerates into a histologically malignant form.

(Ganglioglioma, NLM, Medical Subject Headings)

In acquired cases, the cartilage of the bronchial wall is degenerated, secondary to tracheostomy or presence of a breathing tube.

(Bronchomalacia, NCI Thesaurus)

Do these miserable animals presume to think, that I am so degenerated as to defend my veracity?

(Gulliver's Travels into several remote nations of the world, by Jonathan Swift)

The highly vascularized outer layer of the endometrium facing the uterine cavity which develops over the course of the proliferative and secretory phases then degenerates and sloughs off during menstruation.

(Functional Layer of the Endometrium, NCI Thesaurus)

DNA probes can be highly specific or degenerate.

(DNA Probes, NCI Thesaurus)

The determination of the amount of degenerated leukocytes (leukocytes that show deterioration in form or function) present in a sample.

(Degenerated Leukocyte Count, NCI Thesaurus)

Not to appear to disgrace his family, to degenerate from the popular qualities, or lose the influence of the Pemberley House, is a powerful motive.

(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)

A measurement of the degenerated leukocytes (leukocytes that show deterioration in form or function) in a biological specimen.

(Degenerated Leukocyte Count, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)

A process of tissue replacement where the tissue is being replaced by hyaline or the tissue has degenerated to hyaline.

(Hyalinization, NCI Thesaurus)

As you age, the disks break down or degenerate.

(Herniated Disk, NIH: National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases)