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

   • 1829, Robert Southey, Sir Thomas More; or, Colloquies on the Progress and Prospects of Society

     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:

  Central Kurdish: لە بار کەوتن‎ (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:

  Central Kurdish: لە بار کەوتن‎ (le bar kewtin)

• Lithuanian: blogė́ti
• Maori: tauheke, tipuheke, māwhe (of health), tāmatemate
• 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 (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