Devolution
Devolution noun - A change to a lower state or level.
Usage example: the gradual devolution of the neighborhood from a thriving community of close-knit families to a drug-ridden slum
Evolution is an antonym for devolution.
Evolution
Evolution noun - A process in which something passes by degrees to a different stage (especially a more advanced or mature stage).
Usage example: the evolution of Greek civilization
Devolution is an antonym for evolution.
How words are described
| human | human devolution | human evolution |
| intellectual | intellectual devolution | intellectual evolution |
| vocal | vocal devolution | vocal evolution |
| slow | slow devolution | slow evolution |
| Other adjectives: noticeable, spiritual, final, further, linguistic, technological. | ||
Both words in one sentence
- Hindu philosophers invented a similar concept, of the four yugas, which delineated a series of stages in the moral evolution and subsequent devolution of the universe, at large.
Source: Analysis / End of an Age - The worst offender being Barclay's devolution (and presumably re-evolution) into a spider, which would only be possible if he devolved into a pre-Cambrian lifeform first.
Source: Artistic License Biology - The change must be a result of cultural and/or biological evolution; it cannot be the result of a Devolution Device or other similar transformation on an individual or a group.
Source: Future Primitive
Cite this Source
Evolution and Devolution. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 13, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolution/evolution
Devolution & Evolution. N.p., 2016. Web. 13 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolution/evolution>.
Evolution or Devolution. 2016. Accessed August 13, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolution/evolution.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "devolution" and "evolution" have occurred on timeline