as in deterioration
a change to a lower state or level
the gradual devolution of the neighborhood from a thriving community of close-knit families to a drug-ridden slum
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Recent Examples of devolution
He’s consistently cast a cold, yet never chilly eye at his native country’s evolutions, devolutions and detours, with one orb always on the human beings swept up in and/or desperately swimming to keep pace with the waves of change.
—
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2025
Latin America experienced such a devolution in the mid-twentieth century.
—Javier Corrales, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Huerter stands by his explanation for his devolution with the Kings and return to form with the Bulls.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025
And as Abundance explores in detail, the devolution of systems to local control produces policies that can be locally popular but nationally disastrous.
—Kelsey Piper, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devolution
David Fear, Rolling Stone, 9 May 2025
Latin America experienced such a devolution in the mid-twentieth century.
—Javier Corrales, Foreign Affairs, 22 Apr. 2025
Huerter stands by his explanation for his devolution with the Kings and return to form with the Bulls.
—Julia Poe, Chicago Tribune, 4 Apr. 2025
And as Abundance explores in detail, the devolution of systems to local control produces policies that can be locally popular but nationally disastrous.
—Kelsey Piper, Vox, 28 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for devolution
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devolution
Noun
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Biglari was particularly critical of the company’s store-level deterioration.—
Lily Mae Lazarus,
Fortune,
18 Sep. 2025
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While StubHub stock could rise at the IPO – especially if the offering is oversubscribed – consumer backlash, regulatory pressure, competitive threats, and profitability deterioration make $STUB particularly risky.—
Peter Cohan,
Forbes.com,
17 Sep. 2025
Noun
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For engineers, all this means coupling MLOps with DevOps by integrating retraining triggers, model validation steps and performance degradation alerts directly into deployment pipelines.—
Adrian Bridgwater,
Forbes.com,
15 Sep. 2025
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High-speed charging generates substantial thermal energy, which can accelerate cell degradation, reduce the battery’s overall lifespan, and in rare cases, lead to safety issues like thermal runaway.—
Aman Tripathi,
Interesting Engineering,
14 Sep. 2025
Noun
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Following on from its second-quarter results, the company maintained its full-year sales growth outlook of a low single-digit year-over-year decline.—
Hugh Cameron,
MSNBC Newsweek,
18 Sep. 2025
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At the time, Western Sizzlin had long been in a period of decline, having filed for bankruptcy in 1992.—
Lily Mae Lazarus,
Fortune,
18 Sep. 2025
Noun
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On those three dates, variations in the moon's position relative to Earth's equator — particularly its declination — can influence tidal forces that subtly affect Earth's rotation rate.—
Jamie Carter,
Space.com,
5 Aug. 2025
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Where corporate criminal investigations resolve without filing any criminal charges (through a declination or deferred prosecution agreement), companies should expect victims to still voice their views loudly to the Justice Department and beyond.—
Lisa Zornberg,
Forbes.com,
21 May 2025
Noun
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Instead, computers became powerful enough that AIs can be churned out by gradient descent, without any human needing to understand the cognitions that grow inside.—
Nate Soares,
The Atlantic,
15 Sep. 2025
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My descent into bodybuilding hasn’t always been accepted warmly by the people in my life.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
15 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Devolution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devolution. Accessed 18 Sep. 2025.
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