degradation

American  

[deg-ruh-dey-shuhn] / ˌdɛg rəˈdeɪ ʃən /

noun

• degradations
  plural

1. the act of degrading.

2. the state of being degraded.

   Synonyms:

   debasement, dishonor, disgrace, humiliation

3. Physical Geography. the wearing down of the land by the erosive action of water, wind, or ice.

4. Chemistry. the breakdown of an organic compound.

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degradation British  

/ ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of degrading or the state of being degraded

2. a state of degeneration, squalor, or poverty

3. some act, constraint, etc, that is degrading

4. the wearing down of the surface of rocks, cliffs, etc, by erosion, weathering, or some other process

5. chem a breakdown of a molecule into atoms or smaller molecules

6. physics an irreversible process in which the energy available to do work is decreased

7. RC Church the permanent unfrocking of a priest

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondegradation
  noun
• self-degradation
  noun
• antidegradation
  adjective
• degradational
  adjective
• degradative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• degradations
  plural

Etymology

Origin of degradation

First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin dēgradātiōn-, stem of dēgradātiō, from dēgradāt(us) “degraded” (past participle of dēgradāre; see degrade) + -iō -ion

Explanation

Degradation is the act of lowering something or someone to a less respected state. A president resigning from office is a degradation. It’s also a downcast state. Once the president has resigned, he might feel degradation. The noun degradation is related to the verb degrade, which comes from the Latin degradare. Degradare comes from de-, meaning “down,” and gradus, meaning "step." You can think of a degradation as a step down, or feeling as though you’re a step below.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

degradation degradations

Once this happens, the surface can enter a form of degradation known as transpassive corrosion.

From Science Daily ● Aug. 11, 2026

They cite a lack of research, that nearly no other countries have approved use of these products, and their concerns about how the peptides are made, including the degradation and concentration of active ingredients.

From MarketWatch ● Jul. 23, 2026

“It’s like this that humanism itself gets swallowed up by nihilism,” he adds, concretizing that image in his movie with many scenes of environmental degradation realized as crawling blobs of death.

From Salon ● Jul. 22, 2026

The group said the oil refinery, which is expected to take about 30 months to build, will lead to "habitat destruction, marine degradation, oil spill risk and dangerous air pollution".

From Barron's ● Jul. 14, 2026

In my mind’s eye I saw reduced to soot all those wonderful books, which had revealed to me other ways of living, which had sustained me in a world of degradation.

From "Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography" by Mark Mathabane

“He’s the guy that we put through a series of degradations and humiliations, but like the Energizer Bunny, he keeps coming back. By braving all of these things, he becomes extremely endearing.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 5, 2025

Under Hawpe’s leadership, the Courier Journal successfully fought to rein in the excesses and environmental degradations of the mining industry.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2021

First, he didn’t mention a word about poverty as a primary driver of environmental degradations.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2020

The Powell case made headlines not long after Anita Hill had testified in the Senate about the degradations she’d suffered in the workplace.

From Slate ● Jan. 12, 2020

But within our boundaries we, too, drew a line that included our right to bread regardless of the indignities or degradations involved in getting it.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

Related Words

• degeneration
• deterioration