DETERIORATE Synonyms: 128 Similar and Opposite Words

deteriorate

verb

di-ˈtir-ē-ə-ˌrāt

Definition of deteriorate

as in to worsen

to become worse or of less value the garden slowly deteriorated after months of neglect

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

as in to degrade

to lower in character, dignity, or quality childish name-calling that merely deteriorates what should be a serious discussion on an important issue

Synonyms & Similar Words

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 deteriorate However, their performance can deteriorate when exposed to moisture, oxygen, and heat. — Georgina Jedikovska, Interesting Engineering, 14 Aug. 2026 Concerns about mental health deteriorating on these types of deployments are well-founded. — Christopher Buchanan, Los Angeles Times, 14 Aug. 2026 Iraola’s dismissal came as a surprise to a number of his players, although Catala, who later managed Larnaca, explains that there is a volatility to decision-making in Cyprus if form deteriorates. — Andy Jones, New York Times, 13 Aug. 2026 Bank of America downgrades Stubhub to underperform from neutral Bank of America sees deteriorating growth for Stubhub. — Michael Bloom, CNBC, 13 Aug. 2026 See All Example Sentences for deteriorate

Recent Examples of Synonyms for deteriorate

Verb

Africa's most populous country will hold the election against a backdrop of worsening economic and security crises that have caused anger among voters against Tinubu's government.

— ABC News, ABC News, 19 Aug. 2026
His relatives called Montes a troubled man whose struggles have worsened since the recent death of his grandmother, who raised him.

— Colin Mixson, New York Daily News, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of worsen

Verb

Iran is unlikely to give up the leverage offered by having proxies spread across the region, even if some of them have been degraded by Israel or lost a foothold thanks to regime change, as is the case in Syria.

— Tim Lister, CNN Money, 19 Aug. 2026
But now, Wright says Wendy’s has drifted from some of those qualities, telling investors that decisions made in the interest of cost and efficiency had degraded some of the food quality that set the chain apart.

— Tatiana Sataua, Fortune, 19 Aug. 2026

Definition of degrade

Verb

That makes the world a more dangerous place, where a mistake by just one actor could ignite a regional firestorm, with a US military weakened by Iran unable to ensure American security.

— Brad Lendon, CNN Money, 17 Aug. 2026
Hurricane Lala weakened to a tropical storm Sunday after skirting Hawaii without making landfall, but it wasn’t done punishing the Big Island with hurricane-force gusts.

— Alexa St. John, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026

Definition of weaken

Verb

Watts declined Rolling Stone’s multiple requests for an interview and did not specifically address a majority of questions posed to him in a detailed request for comment.

— Cheyenne Roundtree, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2026
When first baseman Triston Casas suffered a season-ending injury in May, Devers declined to learn the position despite Boston’s dearth of options.

— Justice delos Santos, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of decline

Verb

There, Prue must go on a journey to save her younger brother Mac from crows led by a woman named Alexandra (Carey Mulligan), who captures Curtis and attempts to corrupt him for her own mysterious purposes.

— Wilson Chapman, IndieWire, 19 Aug. 2026
As a result, the notion of utopia became increasingly associated with the sci-fi genre, while the idea of creating a perfect social order here on earth was corrupted by totalitarian regimes.

— Carline Tromp, The Dial, 18 Aug. 2026

Definition of corrupt

Verb

Fully unrolled, the canvas was the size of the cargo container, looking like a dust storm descending over a desert town.

— Chase Hunter, Mercury News, 20 Aug. 2026
No other spacecraft has ever descended into the moon’s shadowy south polar craters, although NASA did crash a rocket into one in 2009 and watched a resultant plume of water vapor burst out.

— Jonathan O'Callaghan, Scientific American, 20 Aug. 2026

Definition of descend

Verb

The term refers to when tobacco companies in the 1990s were forced to pay billions of dollars for misleading the public about the safety and potential harms of their products, and subsequently saw their power and influence dramatically diminished.

— Lim Hui Jie, CNBC, 18 Aug. 2026
The filter significantly diminishes elements commonly found in water that can be damaging, like chlorine, hydrogen sulfide, heavy metals, and more.

— Caroline Hughes, Travel + Leisure, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of diminish

Browse Nearby Words

deterging

deteriorate

deteriorated

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“Deteriorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deteriorate. Accessed 21 Aug. 2026.

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Synonyms of deteriorate

verb

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