degeneration
Slow quality loss
Degeneration is the process of declining from a former state—becoming worse, weaker, or less functional.
The term appears frequently in medical contexts: macular degeneration, nerve degeneration, disc degeneration in the spine.
More broadly, it describes any deterioration: the degeneration of civil discourse, moral degeneration.
The word implies movement away from a healthier or more desirable condition.
Wasting from disuse
- wastingUsing poorly, inefficiently
- muscleContractile body tissue
- emaciationExtreme bodily thinness
- cachexiaSevere illness-induced wasting
shrinkage · deterioration · weakness · frailty · debilitation · disuse · immobilization · paralysis
Degenerative brain disease
- Parkinson'sNeurodegenerative motor disorder
- Huntington'sInherited neurodegenerative condition
- multiple sclerosisAutoimmune demyelinating neurological disease
- ALSMotor neuron disease
macular · dementia · neuropathy · neurodegeneration · prion · sclerosis · dystrophy · osteoporosis
Gradual organic breakdown
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
- biodegradationMicrobial breakdown of organics
cellular · oxidation · necrosis · apoptosis · senescence · entropy · breakdown · disintegration
Decrease or refuse
- collapseSudden structural failure
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- downfallSudden loss of power
- regressionReturn to former state
retrogression · backslide · decay · erosion · breakdown · dissolution · disintegration · dysfunction
Dishonest abuse of power
- viceBad habit or deputy
- depravityProfound moral corruption
- decadenceMoral decline through excess
- dissolutionBreaking up completely
immorality · degradation · perversion · wickedness · turpitude · dissipation · profligacy · licentiousness
Gradual wearing away
- weatheringAtmospheric breakdown of materials
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
- abrasionShallow surface wound
- scouringVigorous abrasive cleaning
landslide · subsidence · degradation · soil · rock · glacial · riverbank · coastline
atrophy
Wasting from disuse
- wastingUsing poorly, inefficiently
- muscleContractile body tissue
- emaciationExtreme bodily thinness
cachexia · shrinkage · deterioration · weakness · frailty · debilitation · disuse · immobilization · paralysis · bone loss
Alzheimer's
Degenerative brain disease
- Parkinson'sNeurodegenerative motor disorder
- Huntington'sInherited neurodegenerative condition
- multiple sclerosisAutoimmune demyelinating neurological disease
ALS · macular · dementia · neuropathy · neurodegeneration · prion · sclerosis · dystrophy · osteoporosis · arthritis
decay
Gradual organic breakdown
- decompositionBreakdown into simpler parts
- rotOrganic breakdown process
- putrefactionBacterial breakdown of tissue
biodegradation · cellular · oxidation · necrosis · apoptosis · senescence · entropy · breakdown · disintegration · degradation
decline
Decrease or refuse
- collapseSudden structural failure
- deteriorationProcess of declining quality
- downfallSudden loss of power
regression · retrogression · backslide · decay · erosion · breakdown · dissolution · disintegration · dysfunction · instability
corruption
Dishonest abuse of power
dissolution · immorality · degradation · perversion · wickedness · turpitude · dissipation · profligacy · licentiousness · iniquity
erosion
Gradual wearing away
- weatheringAtmospheric breakdown of materials
- sedimentParticles settling in liquid
- abrasionShallow surface wound
scouring · landslide · subsidence · degradation · soil · rock · glacial · riverbank · coastline · desertification
- cell pathologyapoptosis, necrosis, cell death, cell lysis, DNA damage
- declinedecline, in decline, decrease, downswing, on the decline
- Deteriorationdecay, rot, degradation, deterioration, corrosion
- degenerationneurodegeneration, atrophy, deterioration, demyelination, cell death
- moral decaymoral decay, moral decline, moral collapse, moral bankruptcy, degradation
- societal decaydecline, decay, degradation, deterioration, disintegration
degenerationregeneration
Biological self-repair process
recovery · healing · restoration · rejuvenation · revitalization
degenerationimprovement
Positive change in quality
development · growth · evolution · advancement · progress
degenerationregeneration
Biological self-repair process
virtue · righteousness · ennoblement · uplift · goodness
- degenerative diseasesConditions causing gradual deterioration
- macular degenerationRetinal disease causing central blindness
- degenerative conditionDisease causing gradual decline
- degenerative disc diseaseSpinal cushion deterioration condition
- degenerative discDeteriorating spinal cushion
- disc degenerationSpinal cushion deterioration