Word a Day
deteriorate
What does deteriorate mean?
deteriorate (verb): become worse or disintegrate.
Definition: Princeton WordNet 3.1.
How do you use deteriorate in a sentence?
- His mind deteriorated. (Princeton WordNet 3.1)
How do you pronounce deteriorate?
/dɪˈtɪɹiəˌɹeɪt/ (IPA, American English). The app reads every word aloud.
Where does deteriorate come from?
Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō, further from Latin dēterior (“worse”).
Etymology: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Words related to deteriorate
From Princeton WordNet 3.1.
Test yourself: do you know “deteriorate”?
Tap an answer to check it. The same questions the app asks.
What does “deteriorate” mean?
to mount; to move upwards on
Not quite: that's what climb means.
to make prominent; emphasize
Not quite: that's what highlight means.
become worse or disintegrate
Right! That's what “deteriorate” means.
to cancel, invalidate, annul
Not quite: that's what repeal means.
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