degenerate
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“Disneyland is tiny compared with the U.S. capital markets, and that goes into the degenerate economy.”
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 21, 2026
The strongest signal appeared in people whose mitral valves had already begun to degenerate.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
You need to be a true degenerate for Las Vegas to break your heart.
From Slate ● Nov. 18, 2025
His screen persona has often been the sleaziest of weasels, the connoisseur’s moral degenerate.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 23, 2025
The best of them convinced themselves that Arthur was newfangled, and that his knights were degenerate from the standards of their fathers.
From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White
![]()
As the valve tissue degenerates, the thin flaps that should meet neatly can thicken, stretch, or lose their normal shape.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 12, 2026
By targeting the “worst” degenerates first, they fractured the opposition, and inadvertently created that “First they came for…” poem that we all now memorize in middle school.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2025
“When my dad’s wife died a couple of years back, it was those rave degenerates who were there for me,” she says.
From BBC ● Oct. 16, 2024
Over the course of the film, he gradually degenerates into a disgusting creature nicknamed "Brundlefly."
From Salon ● Jan. 30, 2023
“If our search degenerates to that level I’ll be sure to call on you,” I said without looking in his direction.
From "The Name of the Wind" by Patrick Rothfuss
![]()
By 2024, my hobby was starting to feel like work, and it was only a matter of time before the sport degenerated enough to make it official.
From Slate ● Jun. 14, 2026
Wingtech representatives responded that the Dutch intervention was "incomprehensible" and meant the row "degenerated needlessly".
From Barron's ● Feb. 11, 2026
In contrast, workers are wingless females with smaller body size and degenerated reproductive tracts, usually without a sperm storage organ.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 22, 2024
The storm prompted the first-ever tropical storm watches and warnings issued in California, but officials now say it had degenerated into a post-tropical low by the time it reached the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 22, 2024
It was a neighborhood that had degenerated from Victorian to nothing in particular, a block that had moved into the twentieth century carelessly and uncaringly—and with very limited funds.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
![]()
Not to get too philosophical, but everything alive is degenerating.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 13, 2026
A subtle pathos, along with the playwright’s verbal sophistication, prevents the play from degenerating into a collegiate vaudeville.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 29, 2025
In many neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's, the neurons start degenerating at a very early stage -- sometimes years before other brain regions begin to falter.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 17, 2023
“The idea that the Y is still degenerating and destined to disappear is really scotched by this.”
From Science Magazine ● Aug. 23, 2023
The coins and the paintings of Pompeii show us craft degenerating in type.
From Boating by Woodgate, W. B.
Vocabulary lists containing degenerate
Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" Speech (1963)
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Flowers for Algernon
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Persepolis
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!