The fortunes of the state have slumped; it can no longer be compared to former times.
Tips
register
Literary/classical. You'll see it in essays, historical writing, and editorials lamenting decline — rare in everyday speech. Also written 凌夷.
memory
陵 (líng) originally means 'large mound / tomb', so 陵夷 evokes the image of a tall hill being worn flat (夷, yí, = level) over time — picturing slow erosion makes 'decline' easy to remember.
