degenerating

VERB

decay, deteriorate

Synonyms

STRONGEST

descend disintegrate lapse lessen regress revert worsen

STRONG

backslide corrode corrupt decline decrease deprave retrogress return rot sink slip vitiate

WEAK

come apart at seams die on vine disimprove fall off go downhill go to pieces go to the dogs

Antonyms

STRONGEST

develop grow increase progress

STRONG

aid build help improve rise

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

degenerating

Ophelia was kept in hospital for tests for nine days, after which she began a daily oral medication that "maintains muscle cells from degenerating".

From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026

Not to get too philosophical, but everything alive is degenerating.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026

A subtle pathos, along with the playwright’s verbal sophistication, prevents the play from degenerating into a collegiate vaudeville.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025

Finally, they showed that after actually damaging olfactory neurons, the ensheathing glia could not remove the degenerating axons in the flies on the high sugar diet because their Draper levels did not increase.

From Science Daily ● Nov. 7, 2023

There came a period when the intellect, instead of pursuing its rise, was, in reality, degenerating into the darkness of superstition.

From The Cathedrals of Southern France by M. F. (Milburg Francisco) Mansfield