future ages; coming generations; posterity
Refers to the distant future or the people who will live then. Often used in a literary or reflective context.
I want to leave this beautiful nature for future generations.
degenerate world; corrupt age
A Buddhist-influenced term for a world in moral and spiritual decline. Rare in modern everyday speech; mainly found in religious or historical contexts.
It is said that in a degenerate world, people's hearts become desolate.
Composed of 末 (end, future) and 世 (world, age). The phrase literally means 'the world of the end' or 'the latter age'. Sense 2 derives from Buddhist eschatology, referring to the period of decline after the passing of the Buddha.