as in deteriorating
to become worse or of less value
the once-lovely neighborhood has devolved into a squalid slum
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Recent Examples of devolving
Because every exchange risks devolving into an ideological spar, partners may feel less inclined to share the personal thoughts and feelings that contribute so greatly to intimacy.
—
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 8 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devolving
Verb
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By 6 months old, Luka was in end-stage liver failure, and his condition was deteriorating rapidly.—
Alyce Collins,
MSNBC Newsweek,
7 Sep. 2025
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Nvidia’s price momo is deteriorating, slowly, according to the look here.—
John Navin,
Forbes.com,
6 Sep. 2025
Verb
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In late December 1980, US Air Force personnel stationed at RAF Woodbridge saw strange lights descending into the forest.—
Atharva Gosavi,
Interesting Engineering,
3 Sep. 2025
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Another cold front is descending across the Great Lakes region later Wednesday.—
Anna Skinner,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The film got some of the best reviews at Sundance in January, then went to Berlin, where Rose Byrne got that festival’s Best Actress prize for her role as a mother who’s crumbling under the pressure of (among other things) a sick kid and a flooded apartment.—
Joe Reid,
Vulture,
5 Sep. 2025
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The catalyst for this a meeting with the school’s board — who look more like trustafarian hedge managers than social workers — where it is revealed that the grand but crumbling school building is going to be sold off at the end of the year.—
Damon Wise,
Deadline,
5 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The negativity around Wilson wasn’t only about his declining physical skills.—
Ian O'Connor,
New York Times,
11 Sep. 2025
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Still, there is some evidence click-throughs per search are declining.—
Preston Fore,
Fortune,
11 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Affirm went public on the Nasdaq in 2021 and — like Klarna — took a battering in 2022 as worsening macroeconomic conditions resulting from the Russia-Ukraine war hammered tech stocks.—
Ryan Browne,
CNBC,
8 Sep. 2025
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Florida, along with California and Texas, is particularly vulnerable to worsening natural disasters fueled by climate change, and the cost to insure a home has risen precipitously as a result.—
Samantha Delouya,
CNN Money,
8 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The difference is the wisdom to recognize that giving away public-trust land and diminishing our quality of life forsakes the permanent greater good for the temporary benefit of a few developers and residents.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
7 Sep. 2025
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In an era of diminishing trust in government institutions and the media, conspiracy theories about high-profile crimes can get significant traction in the absence of a conclusive motive.—
Ernesto Londoño,
Twin Cities,
1 Sep. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Devolving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devolving. Accessed 13 Sep. 2025.
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