Meaning

noun a person whose behavior deviates from what is acceptable especially in sexual behavior

verb grow worse

adjective unrestrained by convention or morality

originFrom Latin degenerō + -ate (verb-forming suffix). Compare Italian degenerare, French dégénérer (and its older (and now obsolete) English cognate from Middle French, degener). By surface analysis, de- + generate.

Etymology from Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 3.0