as in deteriorated
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Dissimilar Words
as in worsened
to become worse or of less value
over the years the community-minded organization degenerated into a club for loafers
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of degenerated
Brian Winter, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Our national political and cultural discourse, especially online, has degenerated into a permanent fever dream.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
The bear bowled Propst over backward, and the encounter degenerated into lopsided hand-to-fang combat.
—John McCoy, Outdoor Life, 12 Nov. 2025
Verb
After a police operation in Rio de Janeiro in October degenerated into a chaotic shootout, leading to more than 120 deaths, Brazilian civil society groups reacted in horror.
—Brian Winter, Foreign Affairs, 16 Dec. 2025
Our national political and cultural discourse, especially online, has degenerated into a permanent fever dream.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 3 Dec. 2025
The bear bowled Propst over backward, and the encounter degenerated into lopsided hand-to-fang combat.
—John McCoy, Outdoor Life, 12 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degenerated
Adjective
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The rehab project at the Cathedral Basilica of the Assumption was sorely needed to repair deteriorated stone, metal and glass that adorns the limestone exterior.—
Dylan Lovan,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
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Crews will also remove the deteriorated deck concrete and install new slabs and joints.—
Brian Sherrod,
CBS News,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
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For Lamar, who now has a tattoo on his chest to honor his younger son, the loss also worsened his struggle with addiction.—
Currie Engel,
PEOPLE,
1 Apr. 2026
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The rapid loss of snow is also affecting the Colorado River, another major water source for Southern California, which has shrunk over the last quarter-century during a megadrought worsened by rising temperatures.—
Ian James,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
Verb
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This story is told by an unnamed narrator, an irreligious woman who has joined the nuns as a lay resident after her faith in environmental advocacy crumbled.—
Robert Rubsam,
The Atlantic,
26 Mar. 2026
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Dozens of cars have been trapped in a parking garage since the concrete crumbled on Monday afternoon.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
26 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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The Santa Ynez complex, then owned by a different company, spilled more than 100,000 gallons of oil near Refugio State Beach in 2015 after a corroded pipeline burst, prompting the state to shut down operations until certain conditions were met.—
Sharon Bernstein,
Sacbee.com,
25 Mar. 2026
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The infrastructure is part of an offshore oil operation that had been closed since 2015, when a corroded section of one of the pipelines burst and caused one of the state’s worst oil spills.—
Grace Toohey,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Mar. 2026
Verb
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As word spread through the federal bureaucracy Monday that Transportation Security Administration workers were getting some back pay, a collective gloom descended on a Coast Guard administrative office, a Coast Guard worker, who asked not to be identified told NBC News.—
Corky Siemaszko,
NBC news,
1 Apr. 2026
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According to the Pineview Police Department, the three men descended onto Pippen's South Florida mansion on Sunday.—
Sarah Rumpf-Whitten,
FOXNews.com,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
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Swimming in contaminated water can lead to gastroenteritis that appears up to 12 days later, or other types of infections or illnesses.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
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Crews spent hours after the fire was out taking inventory and clearing out contaminated equipment.—
Jesse Zanger,
CBS News,
27 Mar. 2026
Verb
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Ndiaye also declined to clear the ball, instead trying to thread a pass to retreating teammate Jake Dengler inside the 18-yard box.—
Idaho Statesman,
Idaho Statesman,
5 Apr. 2026
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In some places, fish catches declined precipitously in medium depths, which Joye attributes to nutritionally barren conditions.—
Jeffrey Marlow,
New Yorker,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
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State officials issued islandwide brown water advisories for Oahu and Maui after storms sent polluted runoff into coastal waters.—
Kathleen Wong,
USA Today,
1 Apr. 2026
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The South Asian nation ranked the world’s most polluted country in 2025, according to the report.—
Esha Mitra,
CNN Money,
1 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Degenerated.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degenerated. Accessed 7 Apr. 2026.
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