| Main Entry: | degenerate |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | corrupt, deteriorated |
Synonyms: |
base, debased, debauched, decadent, decayed, degenerated, degraded, demeaned, depraved, dissolute, effete, failing, fallen, flatitious, immoral, infamous, low, mean, miscreant, nefarious, overripe, perverted, retrograde, retrogressive, rotten, sinking, unhealthy, vicious, villainous, vitiated, wicked, worsen |
| Notes: | to degenerate means 'to decline in value, move lower on a scale' but to deteriorate means 'to worsen, to become lowered, or be reduced in value'; degenerate pertains more to character and virtue while deteriorate is more about loss of strength or vitality |
Antonyms: |
moral, upright, virtuous |
| Main Entry: | degenerate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | decay, deteriorate |
Synonyms: |
backslide, come apart at seams, corrode, corrupt, decline, decrease, deprave, descend, die on vine, disimprove, disintegrate, fall off, go downhill, go to pieces, go to the dogs, lapse, lessen, regress, retrogress, return, revert, rot, sink, slip, vitiate, worsen |
Antonyms: |
develop, improve |
| Main Entry: | brute |
| Part of Speech: | noun |
| Definition: | barbarian |
Synonyms: |
animal, beast, cannibal, creature, critter, degenerate, devil, fiend, lout, monster, ogre, ruffian, sadist, savage, swine, wild animal |
Antonyms: |
gentleman, humanitarian |
| Main Entry: | come down |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | worsen |
Synonyms: |
decline, decrease, degenerate, descend, deteriorate, fail, fall, go downhill, reduce, suffer |
Antonyms: |
boost, improve |
| Main Entry: | contemptible |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | despicable, shameful |
Synonyms: |
abhorrent, abject, abominable, bad, base, beggarly, cheap, crass, currish, degenerate, despisable, detestable, dirty, disgusting, hateful, heel, ignoble, ignominious, inferior, low, low-down, lowest, mean, odious, outcast, paltry, pitiable, pitiful, poor, sad, scummy, scurvy, shabby, sordid, sorry*, swinish, unworthy, vile, worthless, wretched |
| Notes: | contemptible means deserving contempt, while contemptuous means bestowing contempt; the first sense of contemptuous was 'despising law and order' |
Antonyms: |
admirable, admired, good, honorable, loved, respectable, worthy |
| Main Entry: | corrupt |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | debased, vicious |
Synonyms: |
abandoned, abased, baneful, boorish, degenerate, degraded, deleterious, depraved, dishonored, dissolute, evil, flagitious, infamous, loose, low, miscreant, monstrous, nefarious, perverse, profligate, rotten, villainous |
Antonyms: |
clean, decent, helpful, high, kind, noble, sound, wholesome |
| Main Entry: | cruel |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | vicious, pitiless; causing pain |
Synonyms: |
atrocious, barbarous, bestial, bitter, bloodthirsty, brutal, brutish, callous, cold-blooded, degenerate, demoniac, depraved, evil, excruciating, ferocious, fierce, flinty, hard, hard-hearted, harsh, hateful, heartless, hellish, implacable, inexorable, inhuman, inhumane, malevolent, merciless, monstrous, painful, pernicious, poignant, rancorous, relentless, revengeful, ruthless, sadistic, sinful, spiteful, tyrannical, unfeeling, unkind, unnatural, unrelenting, vengeful, vicious, virulent, wicked |
Antonyms: |
charitable, compassionate, considerate, feeling, gentle, kind, merciful, sympathetic, thoughtful, uncruel |
| Main Entry: | crumble |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | break or fall into pieces |
Synonyms: |
break up, collapse, crumb, crush, decay, decompose, degenerate, deteriorate, disintegrate, dissolve, fragment, go to pieces, granulate, grind, molder, perish, powder, pulverize, putrefy, triturate, tumble |
Antonyms: |
build, put together |
| Main Entry: | debauched |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | violated, corrupted |
Synonyms: |
abandoned, corrupt, debased, defiled, degenerate, degraded, depraved, deteriorated, dissipated, dissolute, fast, gone bad, gone to the dogs, immoral, in the gutter, licentious, perverted, profligate, reprobate, vitiate, vitiated, wanton, wicked |
Antonyms: |
clean, cleansed, improved, pure, purified, uncorrupt, unpolluted, virtuous |
| Main Entry: | decadent |
| Part of Speech: | adjective |
| Definition: | corrupt, self-indulgent |
Synonyms: |
debased, debauched, decaying, declining, degenerate, degraded, depraved, dissolute, effete, evil, gone bad, gone to the dogs, immoral, lost, moribund, overripe, perverted, wanton, wicked |
Antonyms: |
benevolent, good, humble, kind, moral |