deteriorate
dih-TEER-ee-uh-rayt
/dɪˈtɪə.ri.ə.reɪt/
To become progressively worse.
Focuses on the process of decay or decline over time. It is often used for health, buildings, or relationships.
The story behind the word. The Latin 'deterior' was the comparative form of 'de' (down). So, it literally means 'more down'. If something is deteriorating, it is moving further 'down' from its original state of quality.
Word relationships
- decline: Decline is a gentler word for a downward trend; deteriorate implies a more serious loss of quality or function.
- degenerate: Degenerate often has a moral or biological connotation of losing 'good' qualities.
- improve: Improve means to get better.
- ameliorate: Ameliorate is a formal word meaning to make something bad better.
Commonly confused with
- disintegrate: Disintegrate means to break into small pieces; deteriorate means to lose quality or health.
Word family
- deterioration (noun): The process of becoming progressively worse.
Collocations
- deteriorate rapidly
- health deteriorates
- conditions deteriorate
Example sentences
- "Relations between the two countries continued to deteriorate as the trade war dragged on." International relations
- "Without regular maintenance, the historic bridge began to deteriorate rapidly." Physical structures
Memory hook
Think of 'de-tier'. It's moving down a 'tier' (level) of quality. Deteriorate: Go down a level.
When not to use
It is an intransitive verb (something deteriorates); you don't usually 'deteriorate' something else (you would 'damage' or 'degrade' it).
Fun facts
- In the 16th century, the word was sometimes used to mean 'to make worse', but today it almost exclusively means 'to become worse'.
Related words
Explore more words
degradation, degenerative, go south, deplete, Erode, devolve
Also appears in
Take your vocabulary further with LangBlitz
Our English vocabulary app: FSRS spaced repetition, 5,000+ curated words across 119 topic groups, CEFR A1 to C2. Explore your mastery with the beautiful Vocabulary World feature.