Standard Lemma guide

degenerative

adj · 2 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • UK: /dɪˈdʒɛn(ə)ɹətɪv/
  • Southern-England: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: D IH0 JH EH1 N ER0 AH0 T IH0 V Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

adj

Meaning 1

Characterized by or causing degeneration.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

2

adjective satellite

Meaning 2

(of illness) marked by gradual deterioration of organs and cells along with loss of function

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • degenerative diseases of old age

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

Etymology tree English degenerate Proto-Indo-European *-wós Proto-Indo-European *-iHwósder. Latin -īvus Old French -ifbor. Middle English -yf English -ive English degenerative From degenerate + -ive.

Across languages

Translations

13 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Afrikaans: degeneratief — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Catalan: degeneratiu — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Dutch: degeneratief — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • French: dégénératif — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Galician: dexenerativo — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • German: degenerativ — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Hungarian: degeneratív — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Indonesian: degeneratif — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Interlingua: degenerative — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Italian: degenerativo — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Portuguese: degenerativo — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Russian: дегенерати́вный (degeneratívnyj) — characterized by or causing degeneration
  • Spanish: degenerativo — characterized by or causing degeneration