degeneration
de·gen·er·ation/dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/noun
degeneration is spelled D-E-G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N, 4 syllables: de·gen·er·ation. The wrong spelling people search most is degeration: about 10 Bing searches a month in the United States (September 2025 to August 2026), about 1 in 34 of all searches for the word. Degeneration is a noun meaning “The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse”. The plural of degeneration is degenerations.
How many letters and syllables are in degeneration?
| Letters | 12: D-E-G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N |
|---|---|
| Syllables | 4: de·gen·er·ation |
| In writing | 1.3 times per million words; the 24,745th most frequent word form |
| Wrong spellings searched | 1; the most searched, degeration, about 10 Bing searches a month (all of them) |
| Rhymes with |
Sources: letters and syllables from the English Wiktionary's hyphenation or pronunciation; written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media); Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026); rhymes and same-letter words are computed by PlainSpell from its own word list.
How do you spell degeneration?
Degeneration is spelled D-E-G-E-N-E-R-A-T-I-O-N. One wrong spelling is searched or written often enough to measure; together they are about 1 in 34 of the searches for degeneration in either form.
Bing searches in the United States: the average month from September 2025 to August 2026 (Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, read September 30, 2026). Wrong spellings are taken from Wiktionary entries tagged "misspelling" and its obsolete or nonstandard forms, Wikipedia's Lists of common misspellings and the codespell dictionary, then measured. The proofreader's marks show the change that corrects each one.
How common is degeneration?
Degeneration appears 1.3 times per million words in written English, the 24,745th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How do you pronounce degeneration?
- UK /dɪˌdʒɛnəˈɹeɪʃən/
Degeneration has 4 syllables, split de·gen·er·ation in writing.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-degeneration.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
What rhymes with degeneration?
The 12 most written words on PlainSpell end in the same sounds as degeneration from its last stressed vowel (/eɪʃən/, British pronunciation):
- translation
- aviation
- determination
- delegation
- authorization
- degradation
- deportation
- inauguration
- deprivation
- depreciation
- visualization
- denomination
Computed by PlainSpell from the pronunciations in the English Wiktionary (dump of September 2, 2026): a rhyme shares every sound from the last stressed vowel to the end; ordered by written frequency (wordfreq 3.1).
Forms of degeneration
- degenerations plural
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
What does degeneration mean?
The meanings the English Wiktionary records, quoted as written there (source below).
noun
- 1
The process or state of growing worse, or the state of having become worse.
- 2
That condition of a tissue or an organ in which its vitality has become either diminished or perverted; a substitution of a lower for a higher form of structure.
fatty degeneration of the liver
- 3
Gradual deterioration, from natural causes, of any class of animals or plants or any particular organ or organs; hereditary degradation of type.
- 4
A thing that has degenerated.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
Degeneration in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| German | Entartung , Degeneration |
| Portuguese | degeneração |
| Spanish | degeneración |
| French | dégénérescence, dégénération |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does degeneration come from?
From French dégénération, from Latin dēgenerātiō.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).