Meanings
plural deteriorations
- countableuncountableThe process of making or growing worse, or the state of having grown worse.
But the firm noted concrete deterioration deep within the pool’s wall and corbel, a type of support structure, requiring “aggressive excavation of concrete.”
2021 July 2, Eliott C. McLaughlin, Alta Spells, Francesca Giuliani-Hoffman, “Firm held off on repairs because of stability issues in months before Surfside building collapse”, in CNN, archived from the original on 22 Nov 20214 more examples
From 1945 onwards, deterioration in the condition of the brickwork in the arch soffits was kept under close observation, and in 1951 it was decided that strengthening must be undertaken.
1954 January, “Strengthening of Coquet Viaduct”, in Railway Magazine, page 18The Queen may be celebrating her jubilee but the Queen's English Society, which has railed against the misuse and deterioration of the English language, is to fold.
2012 June 4, Lewis Smith, “Queen’s English Society says enuf is enough, innit?: Society formed 40 years ago to protect language against poor spelling and grammar closes because too few people care”, in The Guardian, London, archived from the original on 10 Mar 2016"The quantum sensors will provide highly accurate measurements that will help to detect the rate of change of the track and subsequently, any deteriorations which might lead to faults."
2020 November 18, “Network News: Researchers team up on navigation data system”, in RAIL, page 23V-Dem lists the characteristics of autocratization as deteriorations in freedom of expression, the decline of free and fair elections, and the centralization of authority.
2025 September 16, “Can democracy survive without America?”, in The Hankyoreh, archived from the original on 15 Nov 2025Synonyms: aggravation, retrogression, worsening, aggravation, corruption, debasement, degeneration, degradation · Antonyms: amelioration
Synonyms & antonyms
nounThe process of making or growing worse, or the state of having grown worse.
More synonyms by meaning
nounprocess of changing to an inferior state
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Frenchdétérioration
- Englishdeterioration
Borrowed from French détérioration; morphologically deteriorate + -ion.
More words from French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian разваляне, влошаване
- разваляне (razvaljane)process of making or growing worse
- влошаване (vlošavane)process of making or growing worse
Catalan deterioració, deteriorament
- deterioracióprocess of making or growing worse
- deterioramentprocess of making or growing worse
Chinese Mandarin 恶化
- 恶化 (èhuà)process of making or growing worse
Czech zhoršování
- zhoršováníprocess of making or growing worse
Dutch verslechtering, desintegratie
- verslechteringprocess of making or growing worse
- desintegratieprocess of making or growing worse
Estonian mandumine, halvenemine
- mandumineprocess of making or growing worse
- halvenemineprocess of making or growing worse
- allakäikprocess of making or growing worse
Finnish huononeminen, heikkeneminen
- huononeminenprocess of making or growing worse
- heikkeneminenprocess of making or growing worse
French détérioration
- détériorationprocess of making or growing worse
German Verschlimmerung, Verschlechterung
- Verschlimmerungprocess of making or growing worse
- Verschlechterungprocess of making or growing worse
- Verschärfungprocess of making or growing worse
- Abgrundprocess of making or growing worse
Greek επιδείνωση
- επιδείνωση (epideínosi)process of making or growing worse
Hindi अपघटन
- अपघटन (apaghṭan)process of making or growing worse
Hungarian lerontás, degeneráció
- lerontásprocess of making or growing worse
- degenerációprocess of making or growing worse
- leromlásprocess of making or growing worse
- kopásprocess of making or growing worse
- elhasználódásprocess of making or growing worse
Indonesian kemunduran, kemerosotan
- kemunduranprocess of making or growing worse
- kemerosotanprocess of making or growing worse
Italian deterioramento
- deterioramentoprocess of making or growing worse
Japanese 改悪
- 改悪 (kaiaku)process of making or growing worse
Latin deperitiō, deterioratio
- deperitiōprocess of making or growing worse
- deterioratioprocess of making or growing worse
Malay kemunduran, kemerosotan
- kemunduranprocess of making or growing worse
- kemerosotanprocess of making or growing worse
Polish pogorszenie
- pogorszenieprocess of making or growing worse
Portuguese deterioração, deterioramento
- deterioraçãoprocess of making or growing worse
- deterioramentoprocess of making or growing worse
Romanian deteriorare
- deteriorareprocess of making or growing worse
Russian ухудше́ние, по́рча
- ухудше́ние (uxudšénije)process of making or growing worse
- по́рча (pórča)process of making or growing worse
- деграда́ция (degradácija)process of making or growing worse
Spanish deterioro, deterioración
- deterioroprocess of making or growing worse
- deterioraciónprocess of making or growing worse
Swahili uchakavu
- uchakavuprocess of making or growing worse
Swedish försämring
- försämringprocess of making or growing worse
Tamil சீரழிவு
- சீரழிவு (cīraḻivu)process of making or growing worse
Turkish bozulma, iğtişaş
- bozulmaprocess of making or growing worse
- iğtişaşprocess of making or growing worse
Ukrainian погіршення
- погіршення (pohiršennja)process of making or growing worse
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with deterioration
Cite this entry
deterioration. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deterioration
“deterioration.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deterioration. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “deterioration,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/deterioration.
Source: deterioration on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.