deteriorate

English

Etymology

From Late Latin dēteriorātus, past participle of Late Latin dēteriorō, derivative of Latin dēterior (“worse”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈtɪəɹɪəɹeɪt/

  • Audio (UK)

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Verb

deteriorate (third-person singular simple present deteriorates, present participle deteriorating, simple past and past participle deteriorated)

1. (transitive) To make worse; to make inferior in quality or value; to impair.

   to deteriorate the mind

   • (Can we date this quote by Southey and provide title, author’s full name, and other details?)

     The art of war, like every other art, ecclesiastical architecture alone excepted, was greatly deteriorated during those years of general degradation […]

2. (intransitive) To grow worse; to be impaired in quality; to degenerate.
   • 2011 January 8, Paul Fletcher, “Stevenage 3 - 1 Newcastle”, in BBC‎^[1]:

     It was turning into an abysmal afternoon for Newcastle and it deteriorated further when Tiote saw red for his challenge on Jon Ashton.

Synonyms

• worsen
• to go off (of foods)
• nerf (gaming term)
• degenerate
• weaken

Antonyms

• ameliorate
• better
• improve
• revamp

Related terms

• deterioration
• deteriorative
• deteriorable

Translations

make worse

• Bulgarian: развалям (bg) (razvaljam), влошавам (bg) (vlošavam)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 使……惡化, 使……恶化 (shǐ ... èhuà), 使……變壞, 使……变坏 (shǐ ... biànhuài)

• Czech: zhoršit (cs)
• Danish: ødelegge, forværre, skænde (da)
• Dutch: verslechteren (nl), slechter maken (nl)
• Estonian: halvenema, alla käima
• Finnish: huonontaa (fi), heikentää (fi), rappeuttaa, vahingoittaa (fi)
• French: détériorer (fr)
• German: verschlechtern (de)
• Greek: χειροτερεύω (el) (cheiroterévo)
• Hebrew: דרדר‎ (he) (dirdér), החמיר‎ m (hechmir)
• Hungarian: leront (hu)
• Italian: deteriorare (it)

• Japanese: 改悪する (ja) (kaiaku suru), 悪化させる (ja) (akka saseru), 悪くする (ja) (waruku suru)
• Kurdish:

  Sorani: لە بار کەوتن‎ (ku) (le bar kewtin)

• Lithuanian: blõginti
• Norwegian: ødelegge (no), skjemme, forverre
• Polish: pogarszać (pl) impf, pogorszyć pf
• Portuguese: deteriorar (pt), piorar (pt), estragar (pt)
• Russian: ухудша́ть (ru) impf (uxudšátʹ), уху́дшить (ru) pf (uxúdšitʹ)
• Spanish: deteriorar (es)
• Swedish: försämra (sv)
• Turkish: bozmak (tr)
• Volapük: badükumön (vo)
• Welsh: dirywio (cy)

grow worse

• Bulgarian: развалям се (razvaljam se), влошавам се (vlošavam se)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 惡化 (zh), 恶化 (zh) (èhuà), 變壞 (zh), 变坏 (zh) (biànhuài)

• Czech: zhoršit se (cs)
• Danish: forværres, nedbrydes, skændes
• Dutch: verslechteren (nl)
• Finnish: heiketä (fi), huonontua (fi), rapistua, rappeutua (fi)
• German: verschlechtern (de), sich verschlechtern
• Greek: χειροτερεύω (el) (cheiroterévo)
• Hebrew: הדרדר‎ (hidardér)
• Hungarian: rosszabbodik (hu)
• Irish: meath, meathlaigh
• Italian: deteriorarsi
• Japanese: 悪化する (ja) (akka suru), 悪くなる (ja) (waruku naru)

• Kurdish:

  Sorani: لە بار کەوتن‎ (ku) (le bar kewtin)

• Lithuanian: blogė́ti
• Maori: tauheke, tipuheke, māwhe (of health)
• Norwegian: nedbrytes, skjemmes, forverres
• Polish: pogarszać się impf, pogorszyć się pf
• Portuguese: deteriorar (pt), piorar (pt)
• Russian: ухудша́ться (ru) impf (uxudšátʹsja), уху́дшиться (ru) pf (uxúdšitʹsja)
• Sanskrit: भ्रंशते (sa) (bhraṃśate)
• Scottish Gaelic: mùth, rach bhuaithe
• Spanish: deteriorar (es)
• Swedish: försämras (sv)
• Turkish: bozulmak (tr), kötüleşmek (tr)
• Volapük: badikumön (vo)

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Italian

Adjective

deteriorate

1. feminine plural of deteriorato

Verb

deteriorate

1. second-person plural present indicative of deteriorare
2. second-person plural imperative of deteriorare
3. feminine plural of deteriorato