From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishdegeneratede‧gen‧e‧rate1 /dɪˈdʒenəreɪt/ verb [intransitive] WORSEto become worsedegenerate into The conference degenerated into a complete fiasco. —degeneration /dɪˌdʒenəˈreɪʃən/ noun [uncountable]→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
degenerate• To leave a habitat to degenerate and perhaps be destroyed is to injure all its animals, including of course the species concerned.• Don't allow your comments to degenerate into a personal attack on the employee.• It degenerated into a three-sided football match, with blue, yellow and red-lit supporters all but waving rattles in support of their teams.• The regional question has degenerated into adhoc regional study - on-going analysis of the demand-supply equation for land release.• What should have been a civilised debate degenerated into an unseemly row between the two sides.• Attempts by the UK government to prop up the pound on the exchange markets degenerated into chaos.• This soon degenerated into disorder for which there was no remedy.• Unfortunately, when Graham left office Governor Martinez ignored the system, and it quickly degenerated into make-work.• Nevertheless, a foot sweep does require a lot of power to prevent it from degenerating into no more than a shin attack.• Some concert promoters have refused to book rap acts after some rap concerts degenerated into violence.• There's no denying that our relationship has degenerated over the years.• Paralyzed muscles lost tone and became flaccid; with severe damage they further degenerated through shrinkage and atrophy.degenerate into• These historic buildings have been allowed to degenerate into slums.degeneratede‧gen‧e‧rate2 /dɪˈdʒenərət/ adjective formalBAD BEHAVIOUR OR ACTIONS morally unacceptable The painting was condemned as ‘degenerate’.Examples from the Corpus
degenerate• The ravaging giant of Eirena's territory finds counterparts in other figures depicted as monstrous, cruel, degenerate, and corrupt.• The distant fading signals a run-down age of degenerate belief.• These particular degenerate cases will be analysed in more detail in the next section.• A degenerate culture of the gun is seen to embrace all the lost young men in the bush, whatever their allegiances.• Expressionism was at one time considered a degenerate form of art.• Flames belch from the wreckage, degenerate human beings scrabble for survival, the screen is dark and the aspect brooding.• Neurones in the myenteric plexus were not identified in the colon and were sparse and appeared degenerate in the appendix and ileum.• a morally degenerate society• Both sets of inquiries pointed to the existence of a degenerate underclass of the population which formed a residual pool of infection.• He was labelled a degenerate youth by his teachers, and left the town before he was 16.degeneratedegenerate3 noun [countable] BAD PERSONsomeone whose behaviour is considered to be morally unacceptableExamples from the Corpus
degenerate• She is not an incompetent but a degenerate.• Why are we idiots and moral degenerates, while they are in vogue?• He regarded gay men as perverted degenerates who were no use to society and should be put to death.• Or they might shelter piratical degenerates who had become creatures of Chaos.Origin degenerate2 (1400-1500) Latin degeneratus, from genus “type, kind, race” 