DEVOLVING Synonyms: 66 Similar and Opposite Words

devolving

verb

Definition of devolving next

present participle of devolve

as in deteriorating

to become worse or of less value the once-lovely neighborhood has devolved into a squalid slum

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

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 devolving The commission must reject devolving veto authority to cities. —

U T Readers, San Diego Union-Tribune, 14 Mar. 2026 Last year’s conflict with Israel laid bare weaknesses in Iran’s command structures under pressure, with Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei reportedly becoming increasingly hard to reach and authority devolving to provincial governors. —

Farida Elsebai, CNN Money, 20 Feb. 2026 One of his chief concerns is that governments and regulators are struggling to keep pace with the technology’s rapid rollout, leaving the private sector locked in a race to the finish that risks devolving into the kind of perilous competition not seen since the height of the Cold War. —

Tristan Bove, Fortune, 18 Feb. 2026 In moments like these, KAVARI carves intricate filigrees out of monolithic blocks of sound, keeping the spiky moments from devolving into overly indulgent harsh noise (for fans of the latter, try her side project EEL BLOOD). —

James Gui, Pitchfork, 6 Feb. 2026 Negotiations over government funding are devolving into taunts and partisan posturing as Senate Majority Leader John Thune (R-SD) and his Democratic counterpart in the House, Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries (D-NY), assign early blame for an imminent shutdown of the Department of Homeland Security. —

David Sivak, The Washington Examiner, 4 Feb. 2026 Tarr told his sweeping film in chapters, and the prolonged runtime was crucial to the story’s power, showing an entire world devolving into hopelessness and oblivion, practically in real time. —

Tim Grierson, Rolling Stone, 6 Jan. 2026 Gemini spirals Google’s Gemini model series has developed a reputation online for occasionally devolving into self-loathing. —

Tharin Pillay, Time, 28 Dec. 2025 The horns, synthesizers, and guitars all crash in like an anvil — a musical climax to the song’s sultry lyrics — before devolving into free-jazz chaos. —

Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Dec. 2025

Recent Examples of Synonyms for devolving

Verb

Now the war has turned into a race to stabilize the rapidly deteriorating global economic order, central to which is reopening the Strait of Hormuz.

— Sudarsan Raghavan, New Yorker, 25 Mar. 2026
Her mother, Maria Alejandra, had told me in long, vivid emails about some of more serious concerns about her and her daughter’s deteriorating mental and physical health during their prolonged detention.

— Mica Rosenberg, ProPublica, 24 Mar. 2026