Devolve
Devolve verb - To become worse or of less value.
Usage example: the once-lovely neighborhood has devolved into a squalid slum
Fail and devolve are semantically related. In some cases you can use "Fail" instead a verb "Devolve".
Nearby Words: devolution, devolving
Fail
Fail verb - To stop functioning.
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- It represents a subject that always, without fail, invokes a massive Internet Backdraft that makes a normally civil community devolve a series of angry arguments.
Source: Website / Flame Warriors
Cite this Source
Fail and Devolve. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 14, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolve/fail
Devolve & Fail. N.p., 2016. Web. 14 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolve/fail>.
Fail or Devolve. 2016. Accessed August 14, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/devolve/fail.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "devolve" and "fail" have occurred on timeline