What does degenerate mean?
Word: Degenerate
Part of Speech: Verb
Meaning: Degenerate means to slowly lose quality, strength or goodness.
Synonyms: worsen, deteriorate, decline
Antonyms: recover
How do you spell degenerate?
Syllables: de - gen - er - ate
Tricky part: The middle is gener, as in general, with two e's. Students drop the second e and write degenrate.
Watch out for: degenrate, degenarate, degenerait
Memory tip: The middle is gener, as in general: keep both of its e's.
Degenerate in a sentence
Example 1: Without proper care, the old fort began to degenerate.
Example 2: The friendly game degenerated into a shouting match.
Example 3: If you stop practising, your skills may slowly degenerate.
Fun Fact
Degenerate comes from the Latin degener, which described someone who had fallen below the standard of their family or kind.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the prefix that completes the word:
generate
a) dis
b) de
c) un
d) mis
Show answer
b) de. De often means down, so degenerate means to go down in quality.
Word Connection
Choose the antonym of the word:
degenerate
a) decay
b) crumble
c) improve
d) weaken
Show answer
c) improve. Things that decay, weaken or crumble get worse over time; improve is the opposite.
Spell-o-Spell
Choose the correctly spelt word:
a) improove
b) detereorate
c) recuver
d) degenerate
Show answer
d) degenerate. Deteriorate, improve and recover are misspelt here; degenerate is correct.
Mingle-Mangle
Form a meaningful word from the jumbled letters:
netreeeadg
a) regenerate
b) generated
c) degenerate
d) generator
Show answer
c) degenerate. Four e's and one r: regenerate has two r's, generated is an e short, and generator needs an o.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. Which of these shows something degenerating?
a) a new road being built across a field
b) a cut on a knee healing in a week
c) a seed slowly growing into a tall tree
d) a garden left untended turning to weeds
Show answer
d) a garden left untended turning to weeds
2. The discussion degenerated into an argument. How did it change?
a) it got worse
b) it got funnier
c) it got calmer
d) it got shorter
Show answer
a) it got worse
