Without regular maintenance, the ancient stone bridge will deteriorate rapidly under the combined effects of rain and frost.
如果缺乏定期维护，这座古老的石桥在雨水和霜冻的共同作用下会迅速恶化。
Which choice best defines “deteriorate”?
A — Become worse. “deteriorate” means become worse.
Which word means “become worse”?
D — deteriorate. “deteriorate” means become worse.
deteriorate — become worse. In Chinese: 恶化，变坏.
deteriorate is pronounced /dɪˈtɪəriəreɪt/.
Without regular maintenance, the ancient stone bridge will deteriorate rapidly under the combined effects of rain and frost. (如果缺乏定期维护，这座古老的石桥在雨水和霜冻的共同作用下会迅速恶化。)
worsen, decline, degrade — all close in meaning to deteriorate (become worse).
improve, enhance — each the opposite of deteriorate (become worse).
Yes. deteriorate is on the SAT Prep Easy list — mid-frequency academic words that do get tested. The Digital SAT does not test vocabulary in isolation; words like this one are tested through Words in Context questions, where you choose the word that completes a passage most logically and precisely.
de(become worse)+terior(worsen)+ate(verb).