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Degenerate   /dɪdʒˈɛnərət/  /dɪdʒˈɛnərˌeɪt/   Listen
adjective
Degenerate  adj.  Having become worse than one's kind, or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low. "Faint-hearted and degenerate king." "A degenerate and degraded state." "Degenerate from their ancient blood." "These degenerate days." "I had planted thee a noble vine...: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?"



verb
Degenerate  v. i.  (past & past part. degenerated; pres. part. degenerating)  
1.
To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner, or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to deteriorate. "When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into insolence and impiety."
2.
(Biol.) To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.



noun
degenerate  n.  
1.
A person who has declined from a high standard, especially a sexual deviate; usually used disparagingly or opprobriously of persons whose sexual behavior does not conform to the norms of accepted morals.
2.
A person or thing that has fallen from a higher to a lower state, or reverted to an earlier type or stage of development or culture.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Degenerate" Quotes from Famous Books



... the principles of Christian progress, but to destroy what is good as well as what is evil. What availed the struggles of the Waldenses in the Middle Ages? Who came to the rescue of Savonarola when he attempted to reform the lives of degenerate Florentines? What beneficial effects resulted ultimately from the Inquisition in Spain? How was the revocation of the edict of Nantes overruled for the good of the ...
— Beacon Lights of History, Volume VIII • John Lord

... calamities ensue. And afflicted with these, people betake themselves to penances. And some celebrate sacrifices, desiring to enjoy the good things of life, or attain heaven. On the coming of the Dwapara Yuga, men become degenerate, in consequence of impiety. O son of Kunti, in the Kali Yuga a quarter only of virtue abideth. And in the beginning of this iron age, Narayana weareth a black hue. And the Vedas and the institutes, and virtue, and sacrifices, and religious observances, fall ...
— The Mahabharata of Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa, Volume 1 • Kisari Mohan Ganguli

... the very remarkable boundary-stone at Dowth, with the engraving of suns on it, to the vases from Millares, province d'Almerie, which are ornamented with raised circles, these in their turn being derived from a degenerate ...
— The Bronze Age in Ireland • George Coffey

... Humane Life depends, on the Will of the Omnipotent God only. But, omitting these, I would here ask this one Question. Whether by the use of this Universal Medicine, the pristine Nature of Man may be converted into New, so as a Slothful Man may degenerate into a Diligent, or stirring Man, and a Man, who before was by Nature Melancholy and Sad, afterward became Jovial, Chearful, and full of Joy, or like alterations, reformations, permutations, or vicissitudes happen in the Nature ...
— The Golden Calf, Which the World Adores, and Desires • John Frederick Helvetius

... talking religion all the way home: we are both mighty good girls, as girls go in these degenerate days; our grandmothers to be sure—but it's folly ...
— The History of Emily Montague • Frances Brooke


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