1
as in to worsen
to become worse or of less value
the garden slowly deteriorated after months of neglect
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
childish name-calling that merely deteriorates what should be a serious discussion on an important issue
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of deteriorate
Obviously, with rigorous use turned up all the way, your mantles will deteriorate and need to be replaced.
—
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 29 May 2025
The relationship further deteriorated in February following Argentina’s seizure of a Venezuelan aircraft, prompting Caracas to close its airspace.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025
The relationship eventually deteriorated and that led to court filings in Japan related to the couple’s son.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 May 2025
Palliative care can have five stages (stable, unstable, deteriorating, terminal, and bereavement), but not all individuals progress to all the stages, and the stages may be experienced in a different order.
—Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for deteriorate
Bestreviews, Mercury News, 29 May 2025
The relationship further deteriorated in February following Argentina’s seizure of a Venezuelan aircraft, prompting Caracas to close its airspace.
—Antonio Maria Delgado, Miami Herald, 28 May 2025
The relationship eventually deteriorated and that led to court filings in Japan related to the couple’s son.
—Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 28 May 2025
Palliative care can have five stages (stable, unstable, deteriorating, terminal, and bereavement), but not all individuals progress to all the stages, and the stages may be experienced in a different order.
—Heather Jones, Verywell Health, 28 May 2025
See All Example Sentences for deteriorate
Recent Examples of Synonyms for deteriorate
Verb
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There are also mental health impacts with worsening anxiety, stress, and depression in the hotter summer months.—
Jamie Hailstone,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2025
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Truckers are a key industrial force that helps keep the worsening Iranian economy above water.—
Benjamin Weinthal,
FOXNews.com,
27 May 2025
Verb
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Israeli forces are expected to continue their campaign to eliminate remaining Hamas leaders and degrade the group's military capabilities.—
Amir Daftari,
MSNBC Newsweek,
28 May 2025
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Israel has significantly weakened Hezbollah over the past year, killing much of its top leadership and severely degrading its power through mass airstrikes.—
Mostafa Salem,
CNN Money,
28 May 2025
Verb
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Old systems are crumbling under the pressure of new conditions.—
Kian Bakhtiari,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
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For the characters who remain, there’s a sense that the world’s well of meaning has run dry; the old institutions have crumbled, and no one is coming to save us.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
24 May 2025
Verb
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Bias, inaccuracies and missing values can all weaken model reliability.—
Tor Constantino,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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Coercing democratic allies such as Canada or Denmark more broadly weakens trust in U.S. alliances; threatening Panama reawakens fears of imperialism throughout Latin America; crippling the U.S. Agency for International Development undercuts the United States’ reputation for benevolence.—
Robert O. Keohane,
Foreign Affairs,
2 June 2025
Verb
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Citigroup, Bank of America and Wells Fargo declined to comment on the WSJ report.—
John Bacon,
USA Today,
26 May 2025
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Yields have risen and the dollar has declined moderately.—
George Calhoun,
Forbes.com,
25 May 2025
Verb
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Absolute power may corrupt absolutely, but absolute wealth can separate the wealthy from reality.—
Kelly Lawler,
USA Today,
23 May 2025
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We were told that he was just morally corrupted by the White House, by Democrats in Congress.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
18 May 2025
Verb
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The intense setup here is fairly straightforward as these types of sci-fi mystery shows go, with Buenos Aires residents going about their evenings when a sudden nightmarish snowfall descends over the metropolis, killing millions indiscriminately.—
Jeff Spry,
Space.com,
23 May 2025
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The American entrepreneur was one of the five passengers killed on June 18, 2023, while the compact submersible descended en route to the wreckage of the Titanic, and Rush is now in all the talking heads' crosshairs as the villain of this tragic story.—
Ryan Coleman,
EW.com,
22 May 2025
Verb
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The 25-year-old’s sample might be small, but in an era of diminishing workloads, Zack Wheeler and Max Fried are the only current starters averaging 6 1/3 innings.—
Ken Rosenthal,
New York Times,
2 June 2025
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Augmenting Human Relationships with AI AI's role in enhancing efficiency does not diminish the need for human expertise in B2B interactions.—
John Bruno,
Forbes.com,
2 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Deteriorate.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/deteriorate. Accessed 7 Jun. 2025.
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