Degenerate /(?)/

1. Having become worse than one's kind, or one's former state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low.

   Faint-hearted and degenerate king.

   A degenerate and degraded state.

   Degenerate from their ancient blood.

   These degenerate days.

   I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me?

imp. & p. p. Degenerated; p. pr. & vb. n. Degenerating

1. To be or grow worse than one's kind, or than one was originally; hence, to be inferior; to grow poorer, meaner, or more vicious; to decline in good qualities; to deteriorate.

   When wit transgresseth decency, it degenerates into insolence and impiety.

2. To fall off from the normal quality or the healthy structure of its kind; to become of a lower type. (Biol.)

1. a person who has declined from a high standard, especially a sexual deviate; -- usually used disparagingly or opprobriously of persons whose sexual behavior does not conform to the norms of accepted morals.
2. a person or thing that has fallen from a higher to a lower state, or reverted to an earlier type or stage of development or culture.