degeneracy
Americannoun
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degenerate state or character.
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the process of degenerating; decline.
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degenerate behavior, especially behavior considered sexually deviant.
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Physics. the number of distinct quantum states of a system that have a given energy.
noun
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the act or state of being degenerate
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the process of becoming degenerate
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physics the number of degenerate quantum states of a particular orbital, degree of freedom, energy level, etc
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of degeneracy
First recorded in 1655–65; degener(ate) + -acy
Vocabulary lists containing degeneracy
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.
Degeneracy had not been replaced by morality, wrote artist Oskar Schlemmer, but by “tried and true purveyors of kitsch.”
From Salon • Jun. 8, 2025
Degeneracy is believed to be a cellular mechanism to reduce the negative impact of random mutations.
From Textbooks • Jun. 9, 2022
In volume five of his 1781 book Natural History, General and Particular, Buffon coined his Theory of American Degeneracy.
From The Guardian • Apr. 23, 2020
Educators across the new nation were determined to show young schoolchildren how misguided the theory of New World Degeneracy was.
From Slate • Sep. 12, 2012
Degeneracy, rather than signaling the downfall of a society, as it once did, will now signal peace for a troubled world.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
