Definitions for: Degenerate


[n] a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior
[adj] unrestrained by convention or morality; "Congreve draws a debauched aristocratic society"; "deplorably dissipated and degraded"; "riotous living"; "fast women"
[v] grow worse; "Her condition deteriorated"



Webster (1913) Definition: De*gen"er*ate, a. [L. degeneratus, p. p. of
degenerare to degenerate, cause to degenerate, fr. degener
base, degenerate, that departs from its race or kind; de- +
genus race, kind. See Kin relationship.]
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. --Shak.

A degenerate and degraded state. --Milton.

Degenerate from their ancient blood. --Swift.

These degenerate days. --Pope.

I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how then art
thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine
unto me? --Jer. ii. 21.


De*gen"er*ate, v. i. [imp. & p. p. Degenerated;
p. pr. & vb. n. 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. --Tillotson.

2. (Biol.) To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy
structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.

Synonyms: debauched, degraded, deteriorate, deviant, deviate, dissipated, dissolute, drop, fast, immoral, libertine, pervert, profligate, riotous

Antonyms: convalesce, recover, recuperate

See Also: bugger, child molester, decline, fade, fatigue, fetishist, jade, languish, lecher, masochist, miscreant, nympho, nymphomaniac, paederast, paedophile, pall, pederast, pedophile, reprobate, rot, sadist, sadomasochist, satyr, sod, sodomist, sodomite, tire, waste, weary, worsen

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