Topic Thesaurus
Roget's Thesaurus

Deterioration

Nouns
  • deterioration, debasement
  • wane, ebb
  • recession etc. [Motion from.] Recession
  • retrogradation etc. [Motion backwards.] Regression
  • decrease etc. Nonincrease, Decrease. degeneracy, degeneration, degenerateness
  • degradation
  • depravation, depravement
  • devolution
  • depravity etc. Vice
  • demoralization, retrogression
  • masochism. impairment, inquination, injury, damage, loss, detriment, delaceration, outrage, havoc, inroad, ravage, scath
  • perversion, prostitution, vitiation, discoloration, oxidation, pollution, defoedation, poisoning, venenation, leaven, contamination, canker, corruption, adulteration, alloy. decline, declension, declination
  • decadence, decadency
  • falling off etc. v.
  • caducity, decrepitude. decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear
  • corrosion, erosion
  • moldiness, rottenness
  • moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus, atrophy, collapse
  • disorganization
  • delabrement etc. (destruction). [Nonproduction.] Destruction
  • aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron
  • vinefretter, vinegrub. wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb
  • jade, plug, rackabones [U.S.], skate [U.S.]
  • tackey, tacky [U.S.].
Verbs
  • be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated etc. Adj.
  • have seen better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off
  • wane etc. (decrease) Nonincrease, Decrease
  • ebb
  • retrograde etc. [Motion backwards.] Regression, decline, droop
  • go down etc. (sink) [Motion downwards] Descent
  • go downhill, go from bad to worse, go farther and fare worse
  • jump out of the frying pan into the fire. run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale, sweal
  • lapse, be the worse for
  • sphacelate: break, break down
  • spring a leak, crack, start
  • shrivel etc. (contract) Contraction
  • fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad
  • go to decay, fall into decay
  • fall into the sear and yellow leaf, " rust, crumble, shake
  • totter, totter to its fall
  • perish etc. [Nonproduction.] Destruction
  • die etc. Death. [Render less good] deteriorate
  • weaken etc. Weakness
  • put back, set back
  • taint, infect, contaminate, poison, empoison, envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate, pollute, vitiate, inquinate
  • debase, embase
  • denaturalize, denature, leaven
  • deflower, debauch, defile, deprave, degrade
  • ulcerate
  • stain etc. (dirt) Uncleanness
  • discolor
  • alloy, adulterate, sophisticate, tamper with, prejudice. pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize
  • render vicious etc. Vice. embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate. injure, impair, labefy, damage, harm, hurt, shend, scath, scathe, spoil, mar, despoil, dilapidate, waste
  • overrun
  • ravage
  • pillage etc. Stealing. wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate, cripple, hough, hamstring, hit between wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp. blight, rot
  • corrode, erode
  • wear away, wear out
  • gnaw, gnaw at the root of
  • sap, mine, undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up
  • disorganize, dismantle, dismast
  • destroy etc. [Nonproduction.] Destruction. damnify etc. (aggrieve) [Capability of producing evil. Bad qualities.] Badness
  • do one's worst
  • knock down
  • deal a blow to
  • play havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play the deuce among, play the very devil among
  • decimate.
Adjectives
  • unimproved etc. (improve) etc. Improvement
  • deteriorated etc. v.
  • altered, altered for the worse
  • injured etc. v.
  • sprung
  • withering, spoiling etc. v.
  • on the wane, on the decline
  • tabid
  • degenerate
  • marescent
  • worse
  • the worse for, all the worse for
  • out of repair, out of tune
  • imperfect etc. Imperfection
  • the worse for wear
  • battered
  • weathered, weather-beaten
  • stale, passe, shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare
  • worn, worn to a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags
  • reduced, reduced to a skeleton
  • far gone
  • tacky [U.S.]. decayed etc. v.
  • moth-eaten, worm-eaten
  • mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy, time-worn, moss-grown
  • discolored
  • effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten, cankered, blighted, tainted
  • depraved etc. (vicious) Vice
  • decrepid, decrepit
  • broke, busted, broken, out of commission, out of action, broken down
  • done, done for, done up
  • worn out, used up, finished
  • beyond saving, fit for the dust hole, fit for the wastepaper basket, past work etc. (useless) Inutility. at a low ebb, in a bad way, on one's last legs
  • undermined, deciduous
  • nodding to its fall etc. (destruction) [Nonproduction.] Destruction
  • tottering etc. (dangerous) Danger
  • past cure etc. (hopeless) [Absence, want or loss of hope.] Hopelessness
  • fatigued etc. Fatigue
  • retrograde etc. (retrogressive) [Motion backwards.] Regression
  • deleterious etc. [Capability of producing evil. Bad qualities.] Badness.
Phrases
  • out of the frying pan into the fire
  • what a falling off was there! " [Hamlet].