different between nefarious vs degenerate

English

Etymology

From Latin nef?rius (“execrable, abominable”), from nef?s (“something contrary to divine law, an impious deed, sin, crime”), from ne- (“not”) + f?s (“the dictates of religion, divine law”), which is related to Latin for (“I speak, I say”) and cognate to Ancient Greek ???? (ph?mí, “I say”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /n??f???i.?s/
• (UK) IPA^(key): /n??f????.?s/
• Rhymes: -??ri?s

Adjective

nefarious (comparative more nefarious, superlative most nefarious)

1. Sinful, villainous, criminal, or wicked, especially when noteworthy or notorious for such characteristics.

   Synonyms: evil, iniquitous, sinister, underhanded, vile, good-for-nothing; see also Thesaurus:evil

   • 1828, James Fenimore Cooper, The Red Rover, ch. 2:

     "If the vessel be no fair-trading slaver, nor a common cruiser of his Majesty, it is as tangible as the best man's reasoning, that she may be neither more nor less than the ship of that nefarious pirate the Red Rover."

   • 1877, Anthony Trollope, The Life of Cicero, ch. 9:

     Mommsen . . . declares that Catiline in particular was "one of the most nefarious men in that nefarious age. His villanies belong to the criminal records, not to history."

   • 1921, P. G. Wodehouse, The Indiscretions of Archie, ch. 26:

     The fact that the room was still in darkness made it obvious that something nefarious was afoot. Plainly there was dirty work in preparation at the cross-roads.

   • 2009 Oct. 14, Monica Davey, "Fact Checker Finds Falsehoods in Remarks," New York Times (retrieved 12 May 2014):

     “I try to let everyone back here in Minnesota know exactly the nefarious activities that are taking place in Washington.”

   Aliens have a nefarious connotation in many science fiction books.

Usage notes

• Commonly used in contexts involving villainous plans, conspiracies, or actions, as in:

• 1909, Bram Stoker, The Lady of the Shroud, book 7:

The whole nefarious scheme was one of the "put-up jobs" which are part of the dirty work of a certain order of statecraft.

Derived terms

• nefariously
• nefariousness

Translations

References

• nefarious at OneLook Dictionary Search

Anagrams

• isofurane

English

Etymology

From Latin d?gener?tus, perfect passive participle of d?gener? (“to be inferior to one's ancestors, to become unlike one's race or kind, fall from ancestral quality”), from d?gener (“inferior to one’s predecessors”), from d?- (“off, away from”) +? genus (“birth, descent”); see genus.

Analyzable as de- +? generate

Pronunciation

• (adjective, noun) IPA^(key): /d??d??n???t/
• (verb) IPA^(key): /d??d??n??e?t/

Adjective

degenerate (comparative more degenerate, superlative most degenerate)

1. (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.

   • faint-hearted and degenerate king
2. (of a human or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities.
   • 1726, Jonathan Swift, Verses on St. Patrick's Well

     As you grew more degenerate and base, I sent you millions of the croaking race

3. (of an encoding or function) Having multiple domain elements correspond to one element of the range.

   The genetic code is degenerate because a single amino acid can be coded by one of several codons.

4. (mathematics, of an eigenvalue) Having multiple different (linearly independent) eigenvectors.
5. (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.

Derived terms

• (physics) degenerate matter

Translations

Noun

degenerate (plural degenerates)

1. One who is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature; an immoral person.

   In the cult of degenerates, acts of decency, kindness and modesty could be seen as acts of apostasy.

Translations

Verb

degenerate (third-person singular simple present degenerates, present participle degenerating, simple past and past participle degenerated)

1. (intransitive) To lose good or desirable qualities.

   His condition continued to degenerate even after admission to hospital.

   • 1870, Shirley Hibberd, Rustic Adornments for Homes of Taste (page 170)

     Another bird quickly learned to imitate the song of a canary that was mated with it, but as the parrakeet improved in the performance the canary degenerated, and came at last to mingle the other bird's harsh chitterings with its own proper music.

2. (transitive) To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.

Derived terms

• degeneration

Translations

References

Further reading

• degenerate in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• degenerate in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.

Italian

Adjective

degenerate

1. feminine plural of degenerato

Noun

degenerate f

1. plural of degenerata

Verb

degenerate

1. inflection of degenerare:
   1. second-person plural present indicative
   2. second-person plural imperative

degenerate

1. feminine plural of degenerato

Latin

Verb

d?gener?te

1. second-person plural present active imperative of d?gener?