Meanings
degen1
plural degens · alternative degan · alternative dagen
- UKobsoletethieves' cantSword.
"Crash the cull—down with him—down with him before he dubs the jigger. Tip him the degen, Fib, fake him through and through; if he pikes we shall all be scragged."
1828, Edward Bulwer-Lytton, chapter XXVIII, in Pelham: or The Adventures of a Gentleman, volume 1, New York: J. & J. Harper, page 228
degen2
comparative more degen · superlative most degen · alternative dgen
- InternetDegenerate.
plural degens · alternative dgen
- InternetA degenerate.
Discussions of the word are littered with quotes from the Canadian comedy “Letterkenny,” whose rural Ontario characters are plagued by uncouth “degens from upcountry.”
2026 July 9, Nitsuh Abebe, “Has There Ever Been a Better Time to Be a ‘Degenerate’?”, in The New York Times, →ISSN
Degen3
Origin
degen · noun
- GermanDegen“dagger”
- Englishdegen
From German Degen (“dagger”).
More words from German
Full word history & related roots →Degen · proper noun
- Middle High Germandechen
- EnglishDegen
* As a German and Alemannic German surname, from the noun Degen (“boy warrior, hero”). * As a German and Dutch surname, shortened from names like Degenhard, Degenhold, etc., with the same meaning as the above. In isolated cases it can also be from Degen (“rapier”), for someone who made or wore such weapons, and from Middle High German dechen (“dean”, modern German Dechant).
More words from Middle High German
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with degen
All rhymes →Anagrams
Cite this entry
degen. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degen
“degen.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degen. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “degen,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degen.
Source: degen on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.