Nearby Words

deteriorate

[dih-teer-ee-uh-reyt] Example Sentences Origin

de·te·ri·o·rate

[dih-teer-ee-uh-reyt]
verb (used with object), verb (used without object), -rat·ed, -rat·ing.
1.
to make or become worse or inferior in character, quality, value, etc.
2.
to disintegrate or wear away.

Origin:
1565–75; < Late Latin dēteriōrātus made worse (past participle of dēteriōrāre), equivalent to Latin dēterior worse ( from + -ter- formative in adjectives of spatial orientation (compare exterior, interior) + -ior comparative suffix) + -ātus -ate1

de·te·ri·o·ra·tive, adjective
un·de·te·ri·o·rat·ed, adjective
un·de·te·ri·o·rat·ing, adjective
un·de·te·ri·o·ra·tive, adjective


1. degenerate, decline, worsen.

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
Cite This Source Link To deteriorate

:10

:09

:08

:07

:06

:05

:04

:03

:02

:01

Deteriorate is a GRE word you need to know.
So is defalcate. Does it mean:
to cease, as from some action or proceeding
take fraudulently
Example Sentences
  • At this point, the tape is beginning to deteriorate, so we thought we should transfer it to a media that doesn't dissolve.
  • When the weather turns hot, they set seed and deteriorate.
  • Not immediately, but it will slowly deteriorate.
EXPAND
Collins
World English Dictionary
deteriorate (dɪˈtɪərɪəˌreɪt)
 
vb
1.  to make or become worse or lower in quality, value, character, etc; depreciate
2.  (intr) to wear away or disintegrate
 
[C16: from Late Latin dēteriōrāre, from Latin dēterior worse]
 
deterio'ration
 
n
 
de'teriorative
 
adj

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
Cite This Source
Etymonline
Word Origin & History

deteriorate
1570s, from L.L. deterioratus, pp. of deteriorare "get worse," from L. deterior "worse," contrastive of *deter "bad, lower," from PIE *de-tero-, from demonstrative stem *de- (see de). Originally transitive in English; intransitive sense is from 1758.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Medical Dictionary

deteriorate de·te·ri·o·rate (dĭ-tēr'ē-ə-rāt')
v. de·te·ri·o·rat·ed, de·te·ri·o·rat·ing, de·te·ri·o·rates

  1. To grow worse in function or condition.

  2. To weaken or disintegrate.

The American Heritage® Stedman's Medical Dictionary
Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Cite This Source
Dictionary.com, LLC. Copyright © 2012. All rights reserved.
  • Please Login or Sign Up to use the Recent Searches feature