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degenerating

verb

present participle of degenerate
as in deteriorating
to become worse or of less value over the years the community-minded organization degenerated into a club for loafers

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of degenerating McFarland found the items inside a degenerating family trunk. — Gabrielle Rockson, PEOPLE, 21 Apr. 2026 But in general, any organic media is going to start degenerating over time, and the pH is going to be higher. — Ryan Conner, Dallas Morning News, 1 Apr. 2026 Scientists have hailed the benefits of exercising early in life to lower the risk of your brain degenerating later. — Kristen Rogers, CNN Money, 29 Nov. 2025 In the Pacific, meteorologists are watching to see how much rain the degenerating Tropical Storm Mario could carry into the San Diego region. — Dinah Voyles Pulver, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degenerating
  1. deteriorating
  2. crumbling
  3. worsening
  4. descending
  5. declining
Verb
  • With seven months left in his term, Macron’s approval ratings are near record lows, driven by anger over the rising cost of living and criticism of France’s growing debt and deficit and deteriorating public services.
    — Nicole Winfield, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • In schools, lead can come from deteriorating paint or from old plumbing, where water that sits unused in pipes can pick up lead.
    — Rebecca Smullin Dawson, The Conversation, 25 Sep. 2026
Definition of deteriorating
Verb
  • Partly because the contracting system remains dysfunctional, the government has made little visible progress toward repairing the country’s crumbling highways.
    — Will Freeman, The Atlantic, 20 Sep. 2026
  • McKinley stages a few bullet-sweating sequences of peril, including a particularly brutal transport of gold bars across a crumbling rope bridge and an underwater accident exacerbated by floating logs.
    — Katie Walsh, Los Angeles Times, 18 Sep. 2026
Definition of crumbling
Verb
  • In an era of worsening doctor shortages and an aging population, the ability to retain and re-energize good physicians may be the most underrated cost lever in all of healthcare.
    — Aric Coffman, Forbes.com, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Looking to the future As polar ice disappears and sea levels continue to rise, concerns over the continuing and worsening repercussions of climate change continue to grow.
    — Chelsea Gohd, Space.com, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of worsening
Verb
  • Founded in 1926, the largest and longest-running Italian festival in the United States celebrates its 100th anniversary this year, with locals and tourists alike descending upon Mulberry Street in Manhattan to celebrate Italian American culture.
    — Clare Whitton, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026
  • This novel’s narrator is a dog who lives on a farm in a nameless country that is descending into war.
    — The New Yorker, New Yorker, 14 Sep. 2026
Definition of descending
Verb
  • Compared to the rapidly declining number of referrals from traditional search engines — which once numbered in the tens of millions — these AI clicks are a tiny drop in the bucket.
    — Joe Wilkins, Futurism, 24 Sep. 2026
  • North Central President Abiódún Gòkè-Paríolá said he was thrilled by the enrollment numbers, especially as colleges across the country are grappling with a declining high school graduate population.
    — Carolyn Stein, Chicago Tribune, 24 Sep. 2026
Definition of declining

Browse Nearby Words

degenerates
degenerating
degeneration
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Cite this Entry

“Degenerating.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degenerating. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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