degenerate

5 definitions • 6 examples

to become worse in quality:

Educational standards are degenerating year by year because of a lack of funds.

degenerate into What was intended as a peaceful demonstration rapidly degenerated into violence.

having low standards of behaviour:

a degenerate young man

someone with low standards of behaviour:

moral degenerate They're just moral degenerates with no sense of decency.

to become worse:

Standards of courtesy have degenerated since I was a girl.

bad or worse in quality or character, or (of a person) morally bad:

He was a lazy, degenerate young man.