MEANING
To become worse in condition, quality, or strength, often through damage, neglect, illness, or time.
Use it for
describing a building’s condition becoming worse; showing a person’s health declining; portraying gradual loss of strength or integrity; describing a relationship or situation worseningDescribes worsening condition without assuming literal rot, total destruction, or a particular cause. Writing functions: Decay / Deterioration.
Words that belong together
- health deteriorates
- deteriorate rapidly
- deteriorate over time
- deteriorating conditions
On the page
Without heat or repairs, the house deteriorated through three wet winters.
His condition deteriorated overnight, before the family could reach the hospital.
Word forms
- Base
- deteriorate
- Third-person present
- deteriorates
- Past tense
- deteriorated
- Past participle
- deteriorated
- Present participle
- deteriorating
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- deteriorate / deteriorates
- Present continuous
- am/is/are deteriorating
- Present perfect
- have/has deteriorated
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been deteriorating
- Past
- deteriorated
- Past continuous
- was/were deteriorating
- Past perfect
- had deteriorated
- Past perfect continuous
- had been deteriorating
- Future
- will deteriorate
- Future continuous
- will be deteriorating
- Future perfect
- will have deteriorated
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been deteriorating
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Usually intransitive: something deteriorates; deteriorate into a worse condition. Forms: deteriorates; deteriorated; deteriorated; deteriorating. Do not routinely give it a direct object. Register: neutral. Commonness: common (dictionary-informed qualitative editorial estimate; not a measured frequency).
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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