Deteriorated

How to spell deteriorated

12 letters · 6 syllables

How to pronounce deteriorated

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does deteriorated mean?

1. verbBecame progressively worse in condition, quality, or value over time.

Deteriorated in a sentence

• The old bridge had deteriorated so badly that engineers closed it to traffic.

• Relations between the two departments deteriorated after the merger.

Where does deteriorated come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word traces back to the Latin adjective deterior, which simply meant 'worse' or 'inferior', a comparative form related to the idea of being further down or lower. From it came the Late Latin verb deteriorare, meaning 'to make worse' or 'to grow worse', and that verb passed into English in the early 1600s as 'deteriorate'. The past-tense form 'deteriorated' adds the regular English -ed ending. The spelling trap lives in the middle: the cluster -orior- packs three similar vowel sounds together, and the unstressed syllables blur in speech, so writers often drop a vowel or an 'r'. Remembering the root deterior, 'worse', keeps that 'r-i-o-r' sequence in place.

How the word is built

• deterior- (from Latin deterior: worse)
• -ate (verb-forming suffix)
• -ed (past-tense suffix)