degeneration
/dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: 3.12 in modern English
14
Scrabble Score
12
Letters
5
Syllables
9
Unique Chars
Meaning
noun
The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
Countable; Uncountable
noun
That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure.
Uncountable
noun
Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
Uncountable
Example Sentences
- "The modern cry of "more liberty and less creed" is a degeneration from a vertebrate to a jellyfish."
- "Hence, regional soil degenerations and podsolization was probably an important factor contributing to the retrogressive change in the forest composition at the end of the mesocratic phase.."
- "Emmanuel Macron sounded like a man in grief. Not angry, not defiant, just a little triste. Europe, he lamented, was suffering a “degeneration of democracy”."
- "fatty degeneration of the liver"
- "cockle, aracus, […] and other degenerations"
Etymology
From French dégénération, from Latin dēgenerātiō.
Origin
- Source language: French
Word Breakdown
- Root: *ǵenh₁-, dégénération, dēgenerātiō
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/