degenerative
adj.describing a disease or physical condition that gets worse over time. It is often used to talk about health problems that affect the brain or body as people get older.
adj.characterised by progressive, often irreversible deterioration of cells, tissues, or organs. Often used in medical contexts to describe chronic conditions that result in a loss of function.
“Arthritis is a degenerative disease that affects the joints.”
“Doctors are researching new treatments to slow down the degenerative effects of the condition on the patient's nervous system.”
“While some injuries heal with rest, degenerative conditions require long-term management strategies to maintain the patient's quality of life as the underlying structures continue to weaken.”
Typically used attributively before a noun like 'disease', 'condition', or 'process'.
“In degenerative eye diseases, although the photoreceptors are lost, much of this underlying circuitry remains intact but inactive.”
“A new study says at least one in four ex-NFL players who died between 2016 and 2021 had a degenerative brain disease but the true figure could be much higher.”
From degenerate + -ive.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.