degenerative
adjective
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Degenerative diseases—including cancer, glaucoma, Parkinson's, diabetes, arthritis, and leprosy—are usually contrasted with infectious diseases (diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa). However, many infectious diseases (Lyme disease, AIDS, etc.) can cause a body or body part to degenerate, and infective organisms play a part in some degenerative diseases. Some degenerative diseases can be controlled; some can even be cured. But no one has yet discovered a way to reverse such degenerative conditions as multiple sclerosis, emphysema, or Alzheimer's.
Examples of degenerative in a Sentence
Rich Schapiro, NBC news, 30 Dec. 2025
Exploring this pervasive attitude towards disability, Davenport takes as his launching point the case of Elizabeth Bouvia, a young woman with cerebral palsy and degenerative arthritis who entered a California hospital essentially asking the facility to assist in her death.
—Matthew Carey, Deadline, 29 Dec. 2025
The degenerative and incurable disease, which also is known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, depletes and destroys the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord, eventually causing paralysis.
—Martha Ross, Mercury News, 29 Dec. 2025
Sachs committed suicide in 2011, seeking relief from an incurable degenerative disease, according to his family.
—Angelina Rascouet, Fortune, 28 Dec. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degenerative
Cite this Entry
“Degenerative.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/degenerative. Accessed 6 Jan. 2026.
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degenerative
adjective
Medical Definition
degenerative
adjective
-ˈjen-(ə-)rət-
Morris Fishbein
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