deteriorate

English dictionary entry

Meanings

verb

To make worse; to make inferior in quality or value; to impair.
To grow worse; to be impaired in quality; to degenerate.

Pronunciation

/dɪˈtɪə.ɹɪə.ɹeɪt/ /dɪˈtɪə.ɹɪ.eɪt/ LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-deteriorate.wav /dɪˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/ /diˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/ /dəˈtɪɹ.iə.ɹeɪt/ /dəˈtɪɹ.i.eɪt/

Word forms

deteriorate deteriorates deteriorating deteriorated

Etymology

Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from Latin dēterior (“worse”). Cognate with French détériorer.

Synonyms

worsen to go off nerf degenerate weaken

Antonyms

ameliorate better improve revamp

Related words

deterioration deteriorative deteriorable

Derived words

biodeteriorate deteriorator undeteriorated

This entry uses open data from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA/GFDL). Word forms are used for search and are not indexed as separate pages.

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