deteriorate
- to make or become worse or inferior in character, quality, value, etc.
- to disintegrate or wear away.
Origin of deteriorate
Synonyms for deteriorate
See more synonyms for on Thesaurus.comExamples from the Web for deteriorated
Contemporary Examples of deteriorated
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 of deteriorated
This change, if it deteriorated his mind, improved his exterior.
Night and Morning, CompleteEdward Bulwer-Lytton
Deteriorated, that is to say, in the good qualities of horses, not of dogs?
The RepublicPlato
And dogs are deteriorated in the good qualities of dogs, and not of horses?
The RepublicPlato
And will not men who are injured be deteriorated in that which is the proper virtue of man?
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
Word Origin for deteriorate
Word Origin and History for deteriorated
deteriorate
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.
deteriorate
(dĭ-tîr′ē-ə-rāt′)- To grow worse in function or condition.
- To weaken or disintegrate.