How to Use degenerate in a Sentence

degenerate

1 of 3 adjective
  • He criticizes what he believes is a degenerate society.
  • Of the two, Y tends to get more attention because of its small, degenerate size.
    — Ed Yong, Discover Magazine, 11 July 2010
  • Be classy, yet still maintain some of your degenerate tendencies.
    — Joe Kinsey Outkick, FOXNews.com, 25 Apr. 2026
  • In his native Germany, he was reviled by the Nazis as a degenerate artist.
    — Celia Bell july 22, Literary Hub, 22 July 2025
  • Regina, who puts on airs while spouting phrasebook French, wants nothing to do with her degenerate dad.
    — Charles McNulty, Los Angeles Times, 13 Sep. 2022
  • Or have his years in finance scrambled his brain and turned him into a degenerate gambler, both at the office and outside it?
    — Zachary Siegel, The Atlantic, 4 Oct. 2024
  • The result is a book laden with put-downs of the English working class, who are cast in eugenicist terms as a degenerate race.
    — Lennard J. Davis, The Conversation, 13 Aug. 2024
  • As her life begins overlapping with the events of the film, she’s confronted with her own degenerate desires, as the Nazis would call them.
    — Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
  • There is not enough room in this column — hell, in this newspaper — to explain how much of a degenerate Steve Flemmi is.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 19 July 2021
  • But in a degenerate gas, the electrons do fill up all the energy levels, and this results in an outward-pressing force to halt the star's collapse.
    — Jennifer Ouellette, Ars Technica, 20 July 2023
  • This idea suggests that there are degenerate assemblies for each behavior, even in the same situation.
    — Dean Mobbs, Scientific American, 20 Sep. 2019
  • Who ever said that if the fusion happened six million years ago, the DNA there should not be degenerate or diverged?
    — Carl Zimmer, Discover Magazine, 23 July 2012
  • Instead of rejecting Ji-Yoon’s degenerate boyfriend, her father sees him safely home.
    — Amanda Whiting, Vulture, 21 Aug. 2021
  • In theory, the walls of carbon nanotubes house a sea of degenerate electrons that have a similar density to metals.
    — The Physics Arxiv Blog, Discover Magazine, 14 Feb. 2025
  • Absinthe, even for the destitute and degenerate in the late 1800s, was always taken with water.
    — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 1 Oct. 2022
  • Instead, the death of the last star marks the beginning of the degenerate era, the epoch of our universe that will occupy quintillions of years (each quintillion is a billion billion years).
    — Popular Mechanics, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Today, our politics labors under the petty twin tyrannies of moralism and tribalism, the degenerate cousins of ethics and community.
    — Fred Bauer, National Review, 20 Oct. 2017
  • The only Crow who is prospering, perhaps predictably, is our beloved, sharpshooting, degenerate gambler.
    — Devon Maloney, Vulture, 24 Apr. 2021
  • The Nazis viewed French culture as degenerate and dangerous but also as a useful distraction to keep Parisians from rebelling.
    — Timothy Schaffert, WSJ, 23 July 2021
  • If dopamine neurons in the basal ganglia degenerate as happens in Parkinson’s disease, movements become harder to initiate and slower once they are commenced.
    — Literary Hub, 13 May 2026
  • No sooner had news of the crime broken than the nationalist, anti-Semitic press began to extenuate and even to praise it as a blow against degenerate Jewish thought.
    — Adam Kirsch, The New Yorker, 12 Oct. 2020
  • Franco does double duty as Vincent and his twin, the more degenerate Frankie, but Frankie feels like an unnecessary addition.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 7 Sep. 2017
  • Like people, joints naturally degenerate over time, and arthritis is particularly common in older pets.
    — Alice Gibbs, MSNBC Newsweek, 15 Sep. 2025
  • Prisons are filled with the faithful and the daily news reports are overflowing with reprehensible, criminal, degenerate theists.
    — Letters To The Editor, The Orlando Sentinel, 5 Apr. 2026
  • In two minutes of ranting and raving about his degenerate son’s twenty-six-thousand-dollar dinner bill, Reiner gave an indelible comedic performance destined to be quoted for years to come.
    — Alexandra Schwartz, New Yorker, 17 Dec. 2025
  • Perhaps that’s because while the statue of David is all about perfectly proportional muscles and rippling abs, Durden looked both powerful and degenerate.
    — Brett Williams, Men's Health, 27 Sep. 2022
  • One of the longest-running of these figures is Coppertone Jones, a degenerate gambler created and played by artistic director Matthew Posey.
    — Manuel Mendoza, Dallas News, 11 Sep. 2020
  • In the quiet of the Sabbath morning when all the neighborhood was wrapped in slumber, some dastardly degenerate crept into the room, choked her to death, assaulted her criminally and left her bruised and bleeding body lying on the bed.
    — Literary Hub, 16 Oct. 2025
  • Although psychological substance runs slim, Akin renders most mainstream depictions of degenerate minds lighthearted.
    — Carlos Aguilar, Los Angeles Times, 3 Oct. 2019
  • There was a glorious point in the ‘90s when Matt Damon seemed only to play unassuming boy genius to his degenerate friends, and Rounders is arguably his finest portrayal of the golden boy archetype.
    — Keith Nelson, Men's Health, 30 Apr. 2022

degenerate

2 of 3 verb
  • The right temporal lobe in the brain is the last area to degenerate.
    — John Benson, cleveland, 12 Nov. 2020
  • Your instinct here is to loll, sprawl, degenerate, create crumbs.
    — James Parker, The Atlantic, 8 Apr. 2022
  • These are the fine-lines to be walked and explored, since one or the other extremes can degenerate into crimes of their own.
    — Vipin Bharathan, Forbes, 2 Jan. 2022
  • The system could become a remnant low or degenerate into a trough by the middle of next week.
    — Hannah Leyva, USA TODAY, 24 June 2023
  • My question is always where are these middle school degenerates learning this from?
    — Angela Helm, The Root, 21 Oct. 2017
  • In mammals, it has been shown that overall egg quality may degenerate as the mother ages (ref).
    — Grrlscientist, Forbes, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Her brain, in a rare reaction to the cancer, is degenerating.
    — Sharon Coolidge, Cincinnati.com, 1 Nov. 2017
  • Replacement of the degenerating joints isn’t an option for a goose.
    — Karen Weintraub, New York Times, 29 June 2018
  • His muscles and bones had degenerated and his skin had extensive wounds, with a deep infection on his back right leg.
    — Tom Odula, The Christian Science Monitor, 20 Mar. 2018
  • An old hamstring injury and degenerating discs in her back had teamed up to steal her mobility.
    — Deborah E. Kennedy, Good Housekeeping, 3 May 2019
  • The run-up to those elections was marked by town halls that degenerated often into minor riots.
    — Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 13 Apr. 2017
  • The depression is forecast to become a remnant low or degenerate into a open wave tonight.
    — Tom Yulsman, Discover Magazine, 7 July 2017
  • But this can quickly degenerate into the basis for a far more radical agenda.
    — Jan Dutkiewicz, The New Republic, 17 Apr. 2023
  • The hurricane center said Rose should also degenerate into a remnant low in the next few days.
    — Leigh Morgan, al, 22 Sep. 2021
  • Let the Millennials wallow (or degenerate) in their love-work fest.
    — Carolyn Chen, CNN, 4 June 2022
  • In some cases, the drive to get away from computers degenerates into wistfulness.
    — Ian Bogost, The Atlantic, 25 Oct. 2017
  • Pneumo thorax, which can easily degenerate to death, is a common side effect of lung biopsies.
    — Jonathan Kolatch, WSJ, 23 Dec. 2018
  • His muscles and bones had degenerated and his skin had extensive wounds, including a deep infection on his back right leg.
    — Bloomberg.com, 20 Mar. 2018
  • And his hiring did help degenerate the standing of the White House just a little bit, too, thanks to the statement that announced it.
    — Graeme McMillan, WIRED, 6 May 2018
  • These are the symptoms, not the cause, of Canada’s degenerating democracy.
    — BostonGlobe.com, 26 Oct. 2019
  • The event would quickly degenerate into brawls, just what some of the Proud Boys had anticipated.
    — New York Times, 14 Mar. 2021
  • The movie is about a lavish hunting party on a large estate that degenerates into a colossal brawl, which seems to have some connection to the huntsman image.
    — Thomas Hine, Philly.com, 3 May 2018
  • The bear bowled Propst over backward, and the encounter degenerated into lopsided hand-to-fang combat.
    — John McCoy, Outdoor Life, 12 Nov. 2025
  • The experience in other cities proves that such encampments can quickly degenerate into a safety and health problem — a haven for crime and drug use.
    — Vincent Carroll, The Denver Post, 21 Jan. 2017
  • But don't expect a human-monkey species running around; Wu said by day 20, all the embryos will degenerate or collapse.
    — Asha C. Gilbert, USA TODAY, 15 Apr. 2021
  • It’s now believed that the problem really is one where the plantar fascia thickens and the collagen fibers degenerate or weaken.
    — Kelly O'Mara, Outside Online, 25 Mar. 2014
  • But in general, any organic media is going to start degenerating over time, and the pH is going to be higher.
    — Ryan Conner, Dallas Morning News, 1 Apr. 2026
  • As the confrontation threatened to degenerate, the delegation left and told the volunteers to postpone work for the time being.
    — Longreads, 5 Apr. 2018
  • Protests in recent days have degenerated into clashes on the streets of Paris, which are already heaving with garbage as trash collectors remain on strike.
    — Morgan Coates, Washington Post, 28 Mar. 2023
  • However, the would-be partnership degenerated into a feud that Mr Jeyenbekov has won—for now.
    — The Economist, 17 Aug. 2019

degenerate

3 of 3 noun
  • Well, for degenerate gamblers like yours truly, a shot down seven points as time expires can be just as sweet.
    — Max Meyer, SI.com, 18 Mar. 2018
  • To the researchers at the Ahnenerbe, bog bodies were the remains of degenerates who had betrayed the ancient code.
    — Christian Als, Smithsonian, 2 May 2017
  • To the researchers at the Ahnenerbe, bog bodies were the remains of degenerates who had betrayed the ancient code.
    — Christian Als, Smithsonian, 29 May 2017
  • In all vertebrates, the thymus degenerates very rapidly with age.
    — Mallory Locklear, Hartford Courant, 7 Mar. 2026
  • Naked Hunter Biden is a joke, a degenerate, a walking embodiment of squick.
    — Monica Hesse, Washington Post, 21 July 2023
  • Mom's dead, dad's not in the picture; her last boyfriend (Ethan Jones Ramirez) was a violent degenerate.
    — Kristen Baldwin, EW.com, 21 July 2023
  • This 24-hour dive near Uptown is for true degenerates looking to extend the party to unholy hours.
    — David Hudnall, Kansas City Star, 28 Jan. 2025
  • When every game gets presented as a point spread, and when every shot becomes merely an input in a degenerate’s parlay math, the game feels cheapened.
    — Jay Caspian Kang, The New Yorker, 29 Mar. 2024
  • Thus was born the degenerate, slouching image of Neanderthals.
    — Jonathon Keats, Discover Magazine, 4 Sep. 2015
  • Waterford thinks gay people are degenerate and would string McCullough up at the wall back home in Gilead.
    — Rena Gross, Billboard, 13 June 2018
  • If this group of hardened degenerates was able to enjoy the action at this level, who, exactly, are the spiritual victims of sports betting?
    — Jay Caspian Kang, New Yorker, 7 Nov. 2025
  • The protagonist is Gi-hun (Lee Jung-jae), a divorced father who's a bit of a degenerate and a gambler.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA TODAY, 1 Oct. 2021
  • Ike Barinholtz may play degenerates well, but, off screen, the writer, comedian and star is something of a trivia savant.
    — Lacey Rose, HollywoodReporter, 3 Mar. 2026
  • Besides, too great a concern with origin degenerates too easily into a concern with purity, and folklore is most impure.
    — Kevin Young, The New Yorker, 2 Dec. 2019
  • When valuable treasure is discovered off the coast of Korea, the country’s biggest degenerates come crawling out of the woodwork in the hope of striking it big.
    — Patrick Frater, Variety, 15 Apr. 2024
  • Griswold effectively fashioned the portrait of the artist as an erratic degenerate.
    — New York Times, 24 Mar. 2022
  • Adam Sandler plays a lying degenerate gambler in Uncut Gems, which in its sordid candor turns out to be one of the grabbiest films of the year.
    — Kyle Smith, National Review, 11 Dec. 2019
  • But 16 did, including two found in the human dopamine neurons of the substantia nigra, a region of the brain that degenerates in Parkinson’s disease.
    — Freda Kreier, Hartford Courant, 14 Jan. 2026
  • What should be a gripping thriller centered on new, uncharted technology and questionable loyalties degenerates into a jumbled mess.
    — Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 27 Dec. 2025
  • Those who suffer from this madness will do anything, even toss democratic principles into the trash bin or vote for a moral degenerate like Roy Moore, to safeguard their illusion.
    — Eddie S. Glaude, Time, 13 Dec. 2017
  • Those who hold advanced degrees in mathematics and analytics, or your favorite degenerate gambler, know any piece of datum is only reliant on the trove of data that occurred previously.
    — Bill Speros, Boston Herald, 7 May 2025
  • The activities often took place at cast members’ ancestral plantations, but sometimes — and this is how Bonaparte, who is not a degenerate, comes in — at Bonaparte’s restaurants.
    — Anna Peele, Vulture, 14 Apr. 2021
  • Once Gacy is caught, the media runs with the details — all those bodies crammed in that crawlspace, some of them buried in trenches Gacy made his employees dig out — and paints his victims as runaways or degenerates who put themselves in danger.
    — Roxana Hadadi, Vulture, 16 Oct. 2025
  • The product exploded, generating trillions and minting a new class of crypto degenerates who were willing to take massive risks that, occasionally, resulted in millions.
    — Clara Molot, Vanity Fair, 17 Mar. 2026
  • Not just for dog owners, this fundraiser party offers athletes and degenerates alike a chance to try many local brews, meet some canine companions and support one of the region’s leading animal service organizations.
    — Sameer Rao, baltimoresun.com, 1 Oct. 2019
  • In a handsome catalog accompanying the show, curator Lynette Roth notes that only about a quarter of the more than 100 artists declared degenerate left the country.
    — M.j. Andersen, WSJ, 18 Apr. 2018
  • For once, women whom mainstream society habitually ignored were being represented in pop culture as individuals with virtues and flaws, rather than as a monolithic mass of degenerates or vixens.
    — Time, 22 July 2019
  • When someone has Alzheimer's disease, the person's brain cells that retrieve, process and store information degenerate and die, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
    — Kristen Rogers, CNN, 30 Aug. 2021
  • Charm City’s favorite unregenerate degenerate appreciated the shout-out.
    — Chris Kaltenbach, baltimoresun.com, 12 Mar. 2018
  • By successfully propping up the degenerate Assad regime, the Kremlin gained veto on any possible political solution to Syria and got a meaningful foothold in the broader region.
    — Fox News, 18 July 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'degenerate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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