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Degenerate vs Incorrigible - What's the difference?

degenerate | incorrigible |

As adjectives the difference between degenerate and incorrigible

is that degenerate is (of qualities) having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal while incorrigible is defective and impossible to materially correct or set aright.

As nouns the difference between degenerate and incorrigible

is that degenerate is one is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature while incorrigible is an incorrigibly bad individual.

As a verb degenerate

is to lose good or desirable qualities.

degenerate

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (of qualities) Having deteriorated, degraded or fallen from normal, coherent, balanced and desirable to undesirable and typically abnormal.
  • * Shakespeare
  • faint-hearted and degenerate king
  • * Jonathan Swift
  • degenerate from their ancient blood
  • * {{quote-magazine, date=2013-03
  • , author= , title=The Smallest Cell , volume=101, issue=2, page=83 , magazine= citation , passage=It is likely that the long evolutionary trajectory of Mycoplasma went from a reductive autotroph to oxidative heterotroph to a cell-wall–defective degenerate parasite. This evolutionary trajectory assumes the simplicity to complexity route of biogenesis, a point of view that is not universally accepted.}}
  • (of a human or system) Having lost good or desirable qualities.
  • (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.
  • (mathematics) A degenerate case is a limiting case in which a class of object changes its nature so as to belong to another, usually simpler, class.
  • (physics) Having the same quantum energy level.
  • Derived terms

    * (physics) degenerate matter

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • One is degenerate, who has fallen from previous stature.
  • You are a degenerate , boy. You're a disgrace to your ancestors.

    Verb

    (degenerat)
  • 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.
  • To cause to lose good or desirable qualities.
  • Derived terms

    * degeneration

    incorrigible

    English

    Adjective

    (-)
  • defective and impossible to materially correct or set aright.
  • ''The construction flaw is incorrigible ; any attempt to amend it would cause a complete collapse.
  • incurably depraved; not reformable.
  • ''His dark soul was too incorrigible to repent, even at his execution.
  • impervious to correction by punishment or pain.
  • ''The imp is incorrigible : his bottom is still red from his last spanking when he plans the next prank.
  • unmanageable.
  • * {{quote-news
  • , year=2006 , date=December 7 , author=Michael White , title=Breaking up is hard to do, even at the Treasury , work=the Guardian citation , page= , passage=Gordon Brown may have his grumpy, Granita moments, but as a strategist he is an incorrigible optimist.}}
  • determined, unalterable, hence impossible to improve upon.
  • ''The laws of nature and mathematics are incorrigible .
  • (archaic) incurable.
  • Quotations

    Synonyms

    (checksyns) * irredeemable * irreparable * uncorrectable

    Antonyms

    * corrigible

    Derived terms

    * incorrigibility * incorrigibly

    Noun

    (en noun)
  • An incorrigibly bad individual
  • ''The incorrigibles in the prison population are either lifers or habitual reoffenders