1
as in degradation
a change to a lower state or level
the sad degeneracy of the old neighborhood into a slum
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in corruption
a sinking to a state of low moral standards and behavior
the degeneracy of the family into a gang of petty thieves
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of degeneracy
This uncertainty, called mass–distance degeneracy, meant that earlier detections could not rule out heavier objects such as brown dwarfs.
—
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 3 Jan. 2026
Crucially, white dwarfs support themselves against collapse through something called electron degeneracy pressure, in which a huge sea of free-floating electrons resists collapse because, according to quantum mechanics, electrons can never share the same state.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 24 Dec. 2025
Reformers seized on this as both a public-health and a moral crisis; for many Progressives, dirt itself was a sign of degeneracy.
—Jacob Beckert, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Why subject your kids to degeneracy and violence?
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degeneracy
Rupendra Brahambhatt, Interesting Engineering, 3 Jan. 2026
Crucially, white dwarfs support themselves against collapse through something called electron degeneracy pressure, in which a huge sea of free-floating electrons resists collapse because, according to quantum mechanics, electrons can never share the same state.
—Paul Sutter, Space.com, 24 Dec. 2025
Reformers seized on this as both a public-health and a moral crisis; for many Progressives, dirt itself was a sign of degeneracy.
—Jacob Beckert, The Atlantic, 13 Nov. 2025
Why subject your kids to degeneracy and violence?
—Ryan Gaydos, FOXNews.com, 10 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degeneracy
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degeneracy
Noun
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But the Longwood bear’s girth illustrates both the natural world’s resilience and its degradation.—
Stephen Hudak,
The Orlando Sentinel,
4 May 2026
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However, the degradation efficiency of individual Bacillus strain and the single-enzyme system remains limited.—
Prabhat Ranjan Mishra,
Interesting Engineering,
3 May 2026
Noun
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Years later, drawn into a covert network of operatives and manipulated through a web of corruption, Clay must decide whether to become the weapon he was shaped to be or dismantle the system from within.—
Alex Ritman,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
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He was also charged in another foreign corruption case in the same court in late 2024.—
Jay Weaver,
Miami Herald,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The aim wasn’t a knockout, but the gradual deterioration of San Antonio.—
Marcus Thompson II,
New York Times,
5 May 2026
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Mayor Gloria’s egregious record of reckless spending has contributed to the steady deterioration of our city’s fiscal and civic health.—
U T Readers,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
1 May 2026
Noun
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The declinations came as the DOJ reassigned and cut prosecutors working on environmental cases.—
Ken B. Morales,
ProPublica,
31 Mar. 2026
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Federal regulations require special counsels to provide the attorney general with a report that explain prosecution or declination decisions once their work is concluded.—
Jacob Rosen,
CBS News,
23 Feb. 2026
Noun
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An earlier study, published in the American Economic Journal, found that field-office closures led to a sixteen-per-cent decline in disability recipients in the surrounding areas.—
E. Tammy Kim,
New Yorker,
7 May 2026
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The clues are all in his writing, the structure of the sentence, the tracking of it, the fast decline into being inebriated.—
Caitlin Huston,
HollywoodReporter,
6 May 2026
Noun
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However, because the artists were not of Mexican descent, Chicano music histories often overlook or underplay this era.—
Oliver Wang,
Los Angeles Times,
4 May 2026
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There are aspects of the story that are wish-fulfillment followed by the extended descent into horror.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
4 May 2026
Noun
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Though Baudelaire was influenced by Poe’s macabre imagination, decadence never developed its own school in nineteenth-century America, then still a young country.—
Olivia Kan-Sperling,
Artforum,
2 May 2026
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Lemon-Orange Buttercream Frosting elevates the decadence.—
Kimberly Holland,
Southern Living,
1 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Degeneracy.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degeneracy. Accessed 8 May. 2026.
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