Well it specifically refers to a system with zero-information dimensions. Like 3 collinear points is a degenerate triangle. Your adjectives are possible valuation terms for such states but not central to the math itself.
Mostly I use “degenerate” as a suggestion to replace “devolve”. Yes, the meaning of “devolve” has — er — evolved, and I’m not a prescriptivist, but evolution is neither teleological nor reversable.
When you call someone a pariah you're making a statement about social status (shunned). Calling someone a degenerate means they Ought To Be shunned, even if they're in fact high status, because there is some standard they're failing to meet or norm they're not coming in line with