de ‧ te ‧ ri ‧ o ‧ rate /dɪˈtɪəriəreɪt $ -ˈtɪr-/ BrE AmE verb [intransitive]
[ Date: 1500-1600 ; Language: Late Latin ; Origin: deteriorare , from Latin deterior 'worse' ]
1 . to become worse:
Ethel’s health has deteriorated.
America’s deteriorating economy
REGISTER
In everyday English, people usually say get worse rather than deteriorate :
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Her health got worse.
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The situation is getting worse.
2 . deteriorate into something to develop into a bad or worse situation:
The argument deteriorated into a fight.
—deterioration /dɪˌtɪərɪˈreɪʃ ə n $ -ˌtɪr-/ noun [uncountable]
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THESAURUS
▪ deteriorate to become worse:
Air quality is rapidly deteriorating in our cities.
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Living conditions here have deteriorated in the past few years.
▪ get worse to become worse. Get worse is less formal and more common than deteriorate in everyday English:
My eyesight seems to be getting worse.
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He’s never been well-behaved, but he’s getting even worse.
▪ go down to become gradually worse – used especially about the standard of something:
The hotel’s gone down since its management changed.
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Nick’s teachers say that his work has gone down recently.
▪ go downhill to become much worse and be in a very bad condition, especially after a particular time or event:
During the recession the business began to go downhill.
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Her health went downhill rapidly after Christmas.
▪ decline especially written to become gradually worse – used especially about standards of living, education, health etc:
After the war, the standard of living declined.
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Over the years, the standard of public transport has declined.
▪ degenerate formal to become worse, or to become something bad instead of something good:
Relations between the two countries have degenerated.
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The debate degenerated into an argument between the two sides.
▪ escalate to become much worse very quickly – used especially about fighting, violence, or a bad situation:
Further violence could escalate into a full-scale armed conflict.
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The political crisis escalated.
▪ spiral out of control to become worse in a way that cannot be controlled and is extremely serious and worrying:
Police say that the violence has spiralled out of control.
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Scientists are worried that global warming could soon spiral out of control.
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Costs have been spiralling out of control.