deteriorate
[dih-teer-ee-uh-reyt]
- to make or become worse or inferior in character, quality, value, etc.
- to disintegrate or wear away.
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Origin of deteriorate
Synonyms
See more synonyms for deteriorate on Thesaurus.com1. degenerate, decline, worsen.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for deteriorated
Contemporary Examples
Dostum remains a power broker today, although his health has deteriorated from the effects of a hard life and heavy drinking.
The Warlord Who Defines Afghanistan: An Excerpt From Bruce Riedel’s ’What We Won’Bruce Riedel
July 27, 2014
How could things in Ukraine have deteriorated to the point where Putin was now engaged in such a reckless act of aggression?
Her mother has mental-health problems, and physical-health problems, which deteriorated after a hit-and-run accident.
This was ironic since further south he had felt that contact with whites had “deteriorated all the tribes I have seen lately.”
Security has deteriorated and we have to find ways to establish law and order.
Libyan Government Turns to Ansar Al-Sharia Militia for Crime-Fighting HelpJamie Dettmer
February 26, 2013
Historical Examples
This change, if it deteriorated his mind, improved his exterior.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
And will not men who are injured be deteriorated in that which is the proper virtue of man?
The RepublicPlato
And dogs are deteriorated in the good qualities of dogs, and not of horses?
The RepublicPlato
Deteriorated, that is to say, in the good qualities of horses, not of dogs?
The RepublicPlato
Perhaps they had deteriorated, I said unwillingly to myself.
Notes on Life and LettersJoseph Conrad
deteriorate
- to make or become worse or lower in quality, value, character, etc; depreciate
- (intr) to wear away or disintegrate
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Word Origin
C16: from Late Latin dēteriōrāre, from Latin dēterior worse
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for deteriorated
deteriorate
v.
1640s (as a past participle adjective, 1570s), from Late Latin deterioratus, past participle of deteriorare "get worse, make worse," from Latin deterior "worse, lower, inferior, meaner," contrastive of *deter "bad, lower," from PIE *de-tero-, from demonstrative stem *de- (see de). Originally transitive in English; intransitive sense is from 1758. Related: Deteriorated; deteriorating.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
deteriorate
(dĭ-tîr′ē-ə-rāt′)- To grow worse in function or condition.
- To weaken or disintegrate.
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The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
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