deteriorate

/di'tiəriəreit/

Thân thiện

Her health began to deteriorate after the long illness.

Definition

1. Verb (Intransitive):

   • To become progressively worse in quality, condition, or value over time.
   • To decline in health, strength, or mental capacity.
   • To disintegrate or decay physically.

2. Verb (Transitive):

   • To cause something to become worse; to impair or degrade.

Usage and Examples

• Intransitive Verb:

  • The old building's structure began to deteriorate after decades of neglect.
  • Without proper maintenance, the road surface will quickly deteriorate.
  • His health deteriorated rapidly following the diagnosis.

• Transitive Verb (less common):

  • Constant exposure to moisture can deteriorate the metal.
  • Poor communication can deteriorate a relationship.

Advanced Usage and Nuances

• "deteriorate into something": To decline to the point of becoming something worse, often a state of chaos or conflict.

  • The peaceful protest deteriorated into a violent riot.
  • Their professional disagreement deteriorated into a personal feud.

• Used in formal and academic contexts to describe decline in systems, health, materials, or situations.

• Implies a process or progression, not a sudden change.

Variants and Related Words

• Deterioration (n): The process or state of becoming worse.

  • There has been a marked deterioration in air quality this year.

• Deteriorative (adj): Causing or relating to deterioration. (Rare, technical)

Synonyms

• Worsen: To become worse. (General synonym)
• Decline: To become weaker, smaller, or less good.
• Degenerate: To decline to a lower state, often morally or physically.
• Decay: To rot or decompose; to fall into ruin.
• Degrade: To lower in quality or character.

Antonyms

• Improve: To become better.
• Recover: To return to a normal state.
• Ameliorate: To make something bad better. (Formal)

Phrasal Verbs / Common Collocations

• Deteriorate rapidly / quickly / sharply / steadily / gradually: Common adverbs describing the pace of decline.
  • The diplomatic situation deteriorated rapidly.
  • The patient's condition is deteriorating steadily.

Idioms and Fixed Phrases

• While there are no common idioms with "deteriorate," it frequently appears in set phrases like:
  • Deteriorating conditions: Describing a worsening environment or situation.
  • Mental/physical deterioration: Specific decline in cognitive or bodily function.

Học thuật

Verb

1. grow worse
   • Her condition deteriorated
   • Conditions in the slums degenerated
   • The discussion devolved into a shouting match
2. become worse or disintegrate
   • His mind deteriorated

Từ đồng nghĩa

• devolve
• drop
• degenerate