devolutionary
8.7
Causing a decline to a less advanced state
- adjective
- /ˌdɛvəˈluːʃənəri/
:
devolutivo
- Many believe that the current trends in technology have a devolutionary effect on interpersonal communication.
Examples
-
As Pamela Cooper has noted, "water... configures nature's cyclical and devolutionary processes" (378).
Academic text (2017) -
Unnatural, misguided, devolutionary, and evil nonsense.
Blog text (9) -
The critics argue that the new policy is devolutionary, leading to a decline in educational standards.
-
The film portrays a devolutionary society where progress has been replaced by chaos and confusion.
Antonyms
How Harmful
Surface Forms
devolutionary positive
Morphology
devolutionary = devolution (transparent) = devolution + ary
Standard adjectival formation from the noun 'devolution' meaning 'relating to or resulting from devolution'.
Etymology
Devolutionary comes from the prefix de- meaning 'down' and the idea in evolve meaning 'to develop'. So a devolutionary change is like development going 'down' — a decline or loss of complexity.