deteriorate
- 01 C1 Advanced
to cause something to become lower in quality or value.
to make something worse or to impair the quality of something. This transitive use is less common than the intransitive form.
Simple“Years of neglect had deteriorated the old building until it was unsafe.”
In context“Exposure to harsh chemicals had significantly deteriorated the structural integrity of the storage containers over the last decade.”
UsageTakes a direct object; frequently used in technical or formal reports regarding materials.
“Elsewhere, the whole of Wales is in drought, with Natural Resources Wales saying sustained high temperatures were causing the condition of the natural environment to "deteriorate".”
“Genetic changes may set off a chain reaction that causes the spine’s natural shock absorbers to harden and deteriorate.”
Learned borrowing from Late Latin dēteriorātus, perfect passive participle of Late Latin dēteriorō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), further from Latin dēterior (“worse”). Cognate with French détériorer.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.