ROGET'S THESAURUS OF ENGLISH WORDS AND PHRASES ...

decline, declension, declination; decadence, decadency † ; falling off &c v.; caducity † ,
decrepitude.
decay, dilapidation, ravages of time, wear and tear; corrosion, erosion; moldiness,
rottenness; moth and rust, dry rot, blight, marasmus † , atrophy, collapse; disorganization;
delabrement &c (destruction). 162; aphid, Aphis, plant louse, puceron † ; vinefretter † ,
vinegrub † .
wreck, mere wreck, honeycomb, magni nominis umbra [Lat.]; jade, plug, rackabones
[U.S.], skate [U.S.]; tackey † , tacky [U.S.].
V. be worse, be deteriorated, become worse, become deteriorated &c Adj.; have seen
better days, deteriorate, degenerate, fall off; wane &c (decrease) 36; ebb; retrograde &c
283, decline, droop; go down &c (sink) 306; go downhill, go from bad to worse, go
farther and fare worse; jump out of the frying pan into the fire.
run to seed, go to seed, run to waste swale † , sweal † ; lapse, be the worse for;
sphacelate: break † , break down; spring a leak, crack, start; shrivel &c (contract) 195;
fade, go off, wither, molder, rot, rankle, decay, go bad; go to decay, fall into decay; fall
into the sear and yellow leaf, rust, crumble, shake; totter, totter to its fall; perish &c 162;
die &c 360.
[Render less good] deteriorate; weaken &c 160; put back, set back; taint, infect,
contaminate, poison, empoison † , envenom, canker, corrupt, exulcerate † , pollute, vitiate,
inquinate † ; debase, embase † ; denaturalize, denature, leaven; deflower, debauch, defile,
deprave, degrade; ulcerate; stain &c (dirt) 653; discolor; alloy, adulterate, sophisticate,
tamper with, prejudice.
pervert, prostitute, demoralize, brutalize; render vicious &c 945.
embitter, acerbate, exacerbate, aggravate.
injure, impair, labefy † , damage, harm, hurt, shend † , scath † , scathe, spoil, mar, despoil,
dilapidate, waste; overrun; ravage; pillage &c 791.
wound, stab, pierce, maim, lame, surbate † , cripple, hough † , hamstring, hit between
wind and water, scotch, mangle, mutilate, disfigure, blemish, deface, warp.
blight, rot; corrode, erode; wear away, wear out; gnaw, gnaw at the root of; sap, mine,
undermine, shake, sap the foundations of, break up; disorganize, dismantle, dismast;
destroy &c 162.
damnify &c (aggrieve) 649 [Obs.]; do one's worst; knock down; deal a blow to; play
havoc with, play sad havoc with, play the mischief with, play the deuce with, play the
very devil with, play havoc among, play sad havoc among, play the mischief among, play
the deuce among, play the very devil among; decimate.
Adj. unimproved &c (improve) &c 658; deteriorated &c v.; altered, altered for the worse;
injured &c v.; sprung; withering, spoiling &c v.; on the wane, on the decline; tabid † ;
degenerate; marescent † ; worse; the worse for, all the worse for; out of repair, out of tune;
imperfect &c 651; the worse for wear; battered; weathered, weather-beaten; stale, passe,
shaken, dilapidated, frayed, faded, wilted, shabby, secondhand, threadbare; worn, worn to
a thread, worn to a shadow, worn to the stump, worn to rags; reduced, reduced to a
skeleton; far gone; tacky [U.S.].
decayed &c v.; moth-eaten, worm-eaten; mildewed, rusty, moldy, spotted, seedy,
time-worn, moss-grown; discolored; effete, wasted, crumbling, moldering, rotten,
cankered, blighted, tainted; depraved &c (vicious) 945; decrepid † , decrepit; broke, busted,
broken, out of commission, hors de combat [Fr.], out of action, broken down; done, done