dysgenic

English

Etymology

From dys- +‎ -genic, produced from New Latin dys- from Ancient Greek δυσ- (dus-, “bad”) and γένος (génos, “offspring”).

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭs-jĕnʹĭk, IPA^(key): /dɪsˈd͡ʒɛn.ɪk/
• Rhymes: -ɛnɪk

Adjective

dysgenic (comparative more dysgenic, superlative most dysgenic)

1. (genetics, medicine) Of or relating to, or causing degeneration or deterioration in offspring.
   • 2018 June 13, Rory Smith, “IQ scores are falling and have been for decades, new study finds”, in CNN‎:

     The study not only showed IQ variance between children the same parents, but because the authors had the IQ scores of various parents, it demonstrated that parents with higher IQs tended to have more kids, ruling out the dysgenic fertility theory as a driver of falling IQ scores and highlighting the role of environmental factors instead.

2. (genetics, medicine) Of or relating to dysgenics.

   Synonym: cacogenic

   Antonym: eugenic

Derived terms

• dysgenically
• dysgenicity
• dysgenics
• nondysgenic

Related terms

• dysgenesic
• dysgenesis
• dysgenetic
• dysgenetically
• dysgenetics

Further reading

• “dysgenic”, in OneLook Dictionary Search.