as in deterioration
a change to a lower state or level
the gradual devolution of the neighborhood from a thriving community of close-knit families to a drug-ridden slum
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Recent Examples of devolution
King Charles and Queen Camilla visited the Welsh Parliament to commemorate the 25th anniversary of devolution from the U.K. government, and the monarch hinted at his eldest son's connection to the country as the Prince of Wales.
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Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 11 July 2024
The devolution from red pill to black pill is an illustration of the strange metastasis of online content, which tends to always grow darker.
—Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
But, even allowing for the competitive extremes of teen-age culture, the sheer rapidity of Riley’s devolution beggars belief in ways that her emotional crisis in the first movie didn’t.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
Like Trump’s ugly, erratic politics, Musk’s website is substantially contributing to the devolution of thinking on the right.
—David French, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for devolution 
Janine Henni, Peoplemag, 11 July 2024
The devolution from red pill to black pill is an illustration of the strange metastasis of online content, which tends to always grow darker.
—Becca Rothfeld, Washington Post, 10 July 2024
But, even allowing for the competitive extremes of teen-age culture, the sheer rapidity of Riley’s devolution beggars belief in ways that her emotional crisis in the first movie didn’t.
—Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 17 June 2024
Like Trump’s ugly, erratic politics, Musk’s website is substantially contributing to the devolution of thinking on the right.
—David French, The Mercury News, 5 Mar. 2024
See all Example Sentences for devolution
Recent Examples of Synonyms for devolution
Noun
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Coined as far back as 1854 by Henry David Thoreau in Walden, the idea of mental deterioration from trivial distractions has never been more relevant.Mark Travers, Forbes, 6 Dec. 2024
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Tedeschi credits Park Road with heroic work on the Maysles footage, which was delivered to them in various stages of deterioration.Jim Hemphill, IndieWire, 5 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Our region has been plagued for far too long by foreign interference, wars, sectarian conflicts, terrorism, drug trafficking, water scarcity, refugee crises, and environmental degradation.Mohammad Javad Zarif, Foreign Affairs, 2 Dec. 2024
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These novel electrolytes are designed to be much less susceptible to degradation, offering a more stable electrolyte-environment interface.Matthew Dawson, Forbes, 26 Nov. 2024
Noun
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The decline in childhood vaccination rates threaten herd immunity and will ultimately allow diseases that were thought to be eradicated to reappear.Omer Awan, Forbes, 15 Dec. 2024
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The decline may not seem like a lot, but even a small shift matters in close elections — especially in battleground states with large union memberships, such as Michigan, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.Mark Z. Barabak, Los Angeles Times, 15 Dec. 2024
Noun
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Red and declinations to rust and burgundy at Ferragamo and Bottega Veneta.WWD, WWD, 3 Sep. 2019
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Thomas said the sheriff's office presented the case to the district attorney's office for declination purposes only because of Suff's prior convictions and death sentence.Tim Stelloh, NBC News, 15 Aug. 2024
Noun
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Between 5,000 and 8,000 men of African descent fought in the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War.Kinsey Gidick, Smithsonian Magazine, 12 Dec. 2024
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The results are also limited by the population studied, which is primarily of European descent, said Dr. Robert Eckel, professor emeritus of medicine at the University of Colorado Anschutz medical campus and former president of the American Heart Association.Madeline Holcombe, CNN, 10 Dec. 2024
Thesaurus Entries Near devolution
Cite this Entry
“Devolution.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/devolution. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.
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