abasement

[uh-beys-muhnt]

noun

1. the state or condition of having been reduced in rank, office, reputation, or estimation; degradation.

   Her self-respect, even in abasement, has kept her struggling upward.

   We must look closely at what is happening to education in our country and challenge its abasement.

2. the act of reducing, humbling, or degrading someone or something.

   The 1801 agreement led to the abasement of Austria and Prussia and the division of Europe between two great powers, France and Russia.

Word History and Origins

Origin of abasement¹

abase ( def. ) + -ment ( def. )

Example Sentences

After reading “Girl on Girl,” I felt almost sticky with proxy humiliation, as Gilbert evokes example after example of female abasement in pop culture.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Or by observing the climate of denunciation and abasement in various cultural spaces, from academic journals to law schools to the publishing industry.

Read more on New York Times

Ingredient abasement is a dangerous business for home cooks; we face enough obstacles to getting dinner on the table.

Read more on Salon

Jafa’s montage interweaves often shocking instances of violence, abuse and abasement with moments of everyday beauty, footage of athletic prowess, spiritual transport and dance.

Read more on Washington Post

Everyone in Palestinian security seems to have at least a story or two of his own abasement.

Read more on New York Times