Synonyms/Hypernyms (Ordered by Estimated Frequency) of noun degeneration

3 senses of degeneration

Sense 1
degeneration, devolution -- (the process of declining from a higher to a lower level of effective power or vitality or essential quality)
       => process, physical process -- (a sustained phenomenon or one marked by gradual changes through a series of states; "events now in process"; "the process of calcification begins later for boys than for girls")

Sense 2
degeneracy, degeneration, decadence, decadency -- (the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities)
       => abasement, degradation, abjection -- (a low or downcast state; "each confession brought her into an attitude of abasement"- H.L.Menchken)

Sense 3
degeneration, retrogression -- (passing from a more complex to a simpler biological form)
       => transformation, transmutation, shift -- (a qualitative change)