- present participle of degrade.
degrading
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of degrading
Explanation
Degrading describes something that is disrespectful or dishonorable like a degrading comment that angered everyone who heard it. The word degrading comes from degrade, which means "to treat someone with contempt." So something that is degrading is cruel, meant to put a person or group down. For example, if you ever heard someone say that all women (or men, kids, or people from a certain place or who speak a certain language or belong to a certain racial group) are "all alike," you have heard a degrading comment.
Vocabulary lists containing degrading
"Diary of a Wimpy Kid" by Jeff Kinney
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The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948)
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They Called Us Enemy
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Degrading plastic, which is thought to be the source of the majority of ocean plastic pollution, is complicated and multisourced.
From Slate • Dec. 1, 2017
The United Nations Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment—of which the United States was the primary author and an original signatory—specifically bans anything approaching “enhanced interrogation” techniques.
From Salon • Sep. 4, 2017
Degrading old plants have been shut down and not replaced.
From BBC • May 11, 2015
It was the first time that the issue had been raised as a potential violation of the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment.
From MSNBC • Dec. 3, 2014
Degrading as such a course must have been to men of rank and honor, they resolved, in the interest of their ward, to take it.
From Roman life in the days of Cicero by Church, Alfred John
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
