abased

American  

[uh-beyst] / əˈbeɪst /

adjective

1. reduced or lowered, as in status, office, dignity, or estimation; humbled; degraded.

   In the hearings, the abased director of the Children’s Fund finally admitted his errors and meekly promised reforms.

2. Heraldry. (of a charge) lower on an escutcheon than is usual.

   a bend abased.

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noun

(used with a plural verb)

1. Usually the abased people who have been humbled by misfortune, persecution, etc..

   We entrust to God’s mercy the wretched, the desperate, and the abased.

Other Word Forms

• unabased adjective

Etymology

Origin of abased

First recorded in 1645–55; abase + -ed ²

Example Sentences

Much of the classical music industry has since abased itself at Mäkelä’s feet.

From New York Times • Apr. 27, 2023

I hadn’t abased myself, on my knees, scrubbing toilets at the level and in constant sight of my drill instructor’s crotch just to join a club.

From The Guardian • Dec. 18, 2018

He so thoroughly abased himself that he literally ate the excrement of a patrolman’s steed.

From Slate • Feb. 5, 2018

In short, the movie feels, if not exactly glamorous, then simultaneously overly processed and overwrought, even when it’s wallowing in the most abased behavior.

From Washington Post • May 19, 2016

As I myself unreservedly remarked at the time, not without bitterness, "Goethe resembled Louis XI. of France, who abased the powerful nobility and exalted the tiers �tat."

From The Prose Writings of Heinrich Heine by Heine, Heinrich

Related Words

• boorish
• depraved
• evil
• nefarious
• rotten