HomeServicesBlogDictionariesContactSpanish Course
← Back to search

Meaning of degeneration | Babel Free

Noun CEFR C2 Specialized
dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən

Definitions

  1. The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
  2. That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure.
  3. Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
  4. A thing that has degenerated.

Equivalents

Examples

“The modern cry of "more liberty and less creed" is a degeneration from a vertebrate to a jellyfish.”
“Hence, regional soil degenerations and podsolization was probably an important factor contributing to the retrogressive change in the forest composition at the end of the mesocratic phase..”
“Emmanuel Macron sounded like a man in grief. Not angry, not defiant, just a little triste. Europe, he lamented, was suffering a “degeneration of democracy”.”
“fatty degeneration of the liver”
“cockle, aracus, […] and other degenerations”

CEFR level

C2
Mastery
This word is part of the CEFR C2 vocabulary — mastery level.
See all C2 English words →

See also

Learn this word in context

See degeneration used in real conversations inside our free language course.

Start Free Course

Know this word better than we do? Language is a living thing — help us keep it growing. Collaborate with Babel Free