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
Khosla is trying to prevent things from devolving into the sort of trouble that has surfaced at UCLA.
—
Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Democratic societies function when citizens can handle disagreement without devolving into personal attacks.
—Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Gary Robbins, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Democratic societies function when citizens can handle disagreement without devolving into personal attacks.
—Sarah Hernholm, Forbes.com, 15 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devolving
Verb
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Mann’s Heat starred Al Pacino as a hardened Los Angeles cop named Vincent Hanna who, ignoring his deteriorating personal life, is obsessed with tracking down career criminal Neil McCauley (Robert De Niro), who wants to pull off one last heist before retiring.—
Mia Galuppo,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Oct. 2025
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Many remain acutely aware of how their abilities are deteriorating.—
Melanie Goodfellow,
Deadline,
7 Oct. 2025
Verb
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This week saw Netflix co-CEO Ted Sarandos descending on the Eternal City to announce the streaming giant’s plans to help revive a storied cinema, as well as a host of international TV executives mooting the possibility of an upturn that could pull the global drama biz out of its recent doldrums.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
10 Oct. 2025
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Freight rate collapse continues All the carriers’ operational shifts come as freight rates keep descending.—
Glenn Taylor,
Sourcing Journal,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Bringing the battle home for players to storm brownstones in Brooklyn Heights or desperately traverse a crumbling Manhattan Bridge is effectively scary — for most people.—
Christopher Cruz,
Rolling Stone,
9 Oct. 2025
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The show, held in a crumbling 19th-century villa on the outskirts of the city, was inspired by planetary alignment, archaeological ruins and global unity, says Schnaider, 34.—
Alexa Brazilian,
New York Times,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Then come the bones, whose density can begin declining decades before women are routinely screened.—
Emily Cegielski,
Flow Space,
9 Oct. 2025
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In the face of declining new student enrollment, Duval said the university should instead focus on beefing up its endowment and attracting undergraduates.—
Rebecca Noel,
Charlotte Observer,
9 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The lack of monthly data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics hasn’t kept Wall Street completely in the dark on what’s happening in the job market as private sources indicate a worsening picture, according Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi.—
Danny Bakst,
Fortune,
5 Oct. 2025
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And the arrival of some suspicious new neighbors presents an opportunity that solves one problem while worsening the other.—
Christian Zilko,
IndieWire,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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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
Verb
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But relying on a 35-year-old, who was already showing signs of decline with diminishing velocity, to return to being one of the best pitchers in the sport after Tommy John surgery, is a risk.—
Chris Kirschner,
New York Times,
9 Oct. 2025
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Their patches of habitat and their water sources are diminishing; their feeding timeline has grown increasingly erratic, and more barricades are being built all the time, limiting their freedom of movement.—
Ganesh Marín,
The Dial,
7 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Devolving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devolving. Accessed 13 Oct. 2025.
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