1. plural of degeneracy; the state or process of declining in quality, character, or function; moral or physical decline
Usage: countable and uncountable uses; often used in formal or academic contexts
2. in physics and mathematics, the property of having multiple states or solutions with the same energy level or value
Usage: technical; used in quantum mechanics and mathematics

Examples

• The degeneracies of modern society troubled the social reformer.
• The city's infrastructure showed signs of degeneracies after years of neglect.
• In quantum mechanics, energy degeneracies occur when different quantum states share the same energy.
• The degeneracies of the old regime led to its eventual collapse.
• Scientists studied the degeneracies in the atomic spectrum.
• Moral degeneracies were a common theme in 19th-century literature.