devolve

American  

[dih-volv] / dɪˈvɒlv /

verb (used with object)

devolves, present (3rd person singular) devolved, past participle, past devolving present participle

1. to transfer or delegate (a duty, responsibility, etc.) to or upon another; pass on.

2. Obsolete. to cause to roll downward.

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verb (used without object)

devolves, present (3rd person singular) devolved, past participle, past devolving present participle

1. to be transferred or passed on from one to another.

   The responsibility devolved on me.

2. Archaic. to roll or flow downward.

devolve British  

/ dɪˈvɒlv /

verb

1. to pass or cause to pass to a successor or substitute, as duties, power, etc

2. (intr; foll by on or upon) law (of an estate, etc) to pass to another by operation of law, esp on intestacy or bankruptcy

3. (intr; foll by on or upon) to depend (on)

   your argument devolves on how you interpret this clause

4. archaic to roll down or cause to roll down

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Usage

What does devolve mean? To devolve means to transfer or pass on from one to another, as in The discussion about world economics devolved into talking about who earns more money. To devolve also means to delegate or pass on responsibility to another, as in When the governor stepped down from office, his duties devolved to the lieutenant governor. Example: I usually devolve my weekly writeup to my assistant.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• devolvement
  noun

Inflected Forms

Participles

• devolving
  present
• devolved
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• devolve
  simple
• devolves
  simple
• have devolved
  perfect
• has devolved
  perfect
• am devolving
  progressive
• are devolving
  progressive
• is devolving
  progressive
• have been devolving
  perfect progressive
• has been devolving
  perfect progressive

Past

• devolved
  simple
• had devolved
  perfect
• was devolving
  progressive
• were devolving
  progressive
• had been devolving
  perfect progressive

Future

• will devolve
  simple
• will have devolved
  perfect
• will be devolving
  progressive
• will have been devolving
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of devolve

1375–1425; late Middle English devolven < Latin dēvolvere to roll down, equivalent to dē- de- + volvere to roll

Explanation

You've probably heard that organisms evolve over time. Well, life is complicated, and sometimes things devolve instead — to devolve is to get worse instead of better. The de- in devolve is a clue to its meaning. When things devolve, they deteriorate, degenerate, fall apart, go to the dogs, and generally end up worse. When a classroom gets loud and rowdy, a teacher might say the class has devolved. There is another, less negative, meaning of devolve. You can devolve responsibilities: for example, the U.S. government could devolve a certain responsibility to the states. The non-negative meaning of devolve is kind of like passing things on in a will. If I devolve something to you, you inherit it.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

devolve devolves devolved devolving

“Any conversation would devolve into this forensic audit of everything that had ever been purchased,” Daniel-Hoste said.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

Morgan might think that she’s evolved past certain things and then the minute she’s codependent with her sister, they devolve back into the bratty kid-like versions of themselves that are like picking on each other.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 26, 2026

But Aristotle, Polybius and Machiavelli in “Discourses on Livy” all warn the democracy has the tendency to devolve into “mob rule” or chaos.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

That could cause a correction to devolve into a bear market.

From Barron's ● Feb. 28, 2026

The arguments over Bailey’s future began early and occur frequently, though at this point they often devolve into repetitive phrases and tense silences.

From "The Night Circus" by Erin Morgenstern

Mrs. Irani’s advice is well-meaning and even inspirational, but sometimes she devolves into cliché and therapy-speak.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Otherwise, it quickly devolves into a week-long argument with your own brain about what, exactly, counts as “essential”—and whether almond milk has somehow crossed that threshold.

From Salon ● Jan. 11, 2026

As the manor devolves into something like “Lord of the Flies,” our hedonistic interloper uses this opening to become a usurper.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 31, 2024

Social media devolves into an echo chamber of torches and parading pitchforks, all aimed at Frankenstein’s monster.

From Seattle Times ● May 31, 2024

Her breathing devolves into trains of oceanic coughs.

From "All the Light We Cannot See" by Anthony Doerr

The chair Baroness Heather Hallett criticised the "vast" waste in pandemic procurement, amounting to two-thirds of the £14.9bn total the UK and devolved governments spent on PPE.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

It found that a "vast amount" of taxpayers' money was wasted on PPE - almost £10bn of the £14.9bn spent by the UK and devolved governments.

From BBC ● Jul. 14, 2026

Apologies were also made in 2023 by the devolved administrations in Cardiff and Edinburgh to people affected in Wales and Scotland.

From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026

He said this would include taking power away from devolved parliaments and empowering communities.

From BBC ● Jun. 29, 2026

No solid contour was certain, but all devolved with the evening into one crabbed mass, gnarled and dark beneath the moon.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

But the movie itself isn’t exactly exploring new frontiers of fear, devolving instead into a familiar slasher-thriller with a climax of strained characterization and confusing spatial logic.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026

But he demonstrated Wednesday that his leadership remains intact—and strong enough to prevent tension in the Fed’s dual mandate from devolving into deleterious tension within the committee.

From Barron's ● Dec. 12, 2025

“I am appalled,” Smokey Robinson told the Daily Mail in a phone call Wednesday before reportedly devolving into mumbles about being contacted at home.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 8, 2025

For anyone paying the slightest attention, it’s clear our global society is quickly devolving, reverting back to a time before antibiotics and widespread sanitation.

From Salon ● Apr. 13, 2025

Among other duties devolving on the boom agent is to inspect, personally, every raft of logs, setting down the number and mark in a memorandum kept for the purpose.

From Forest Life and Forest Trees: comprising winter camp-life among the loggers, and wild-wood adventure. with Descriptions of lumbering operations on the various rivers of Maine and New Brunswick by Springer, John S.