Degenerate son with tattoos (4)
I believe the answer is:
sink
'degenerate' is the definition.
(thesaurus)
'son with tattoos' is the wordplay.
'son' becomes 's' (genealogical abbreviation for son).
'with' says to put letters next to each other.
'tattoos' becomes 'ink' (I've seen this in another clue).
's'+'ink'='SINK'
(Other definitions for sink that I've seen before include "Slump" , "Plummet" , "Kitchen equipment - founder" , "place of iniquity?" , "Plumbing fixture" .)