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Entry 5 senses · 3 variants Webster, 1913

Degenerate

/dĭj-ĕn'-ẽr-ət/ · De·gen·er·ate · IPA /dɪˈd͡ʒɛnəɹɪt/
01 a. Having become worse than one's kind, or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unwo…
  1. 1.
    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.
02 v. i. 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…
imp. & p. p. Degenerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Degenerating
  1. 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. 2.
    To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type.(Biol.)
03 n. a person who has declined from a high standard, especially a sexual deviate; -- usually used disparagingly or opprobriously of persons whos…
  1. 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. 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.