bastardize

American  

[bas-ter-dahyz] / ˈbæs tərˌdaɪz /

especially British, bastardise

verb (used with object)

bastardized, bastardizing

1. to lower in condition or worth; debase.

   hybrid works that neither preserve nor bastardize existing art forms.

2. to declare or prove (someone) to be a bastard.

3. Australian. to harass or humiliate as part of initiation into a college or regiment.

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verb (used without object)

bastardized, bastardizing

1. to become debased.

bastardize British  

/ ˈbɑːstəˌdaɪz, ˈbæs- /

verb

1. to debase; corrupt

2. archaic to declare illegitimate

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Other Word Forms

• bastardization
  noun
• unbastardized
  adjective

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Etymology

Origin of bastardize

First recorded in 1580–90; bastard + -ize

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

bastardize bastardized bastardizing

It always finds a way to reinvent itself — to become more daring, to fuse and bastardize.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 4, 2026

Megan objected to the anecdote on social media, accusing Harris of trying to "reinvent history" and "bastardize his memory."

From Salon ● Oct. 12, 2024

“I feel like many people don’t realize that they bastardize ASL, and it harms more than it helps,” Bienvenu told Amanda.

From New York Times ● Jul. 27, 2022

“If we bastardize Congress, we’re also bastardizing our country,” Cayetano said in his video message.

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020

The law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if born, though not begotten, in lawful wedlock.

From Webster's Unabridged Dictionary (2nd 100 Pages) by Noah Webster

I was just picturing them both hating how I bastardized their song.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

While this can prove tricky for famous estates and those looking to capitalize from someone else’s legacy, it ensures that beloved works can live forever, even if it’s in some loony, bastardized way.

From Salon ● Dec. 24, 2025

“They’ve bastardized the concept of what NFTs were supposed to be,” said Aja Trier, an artist in Texas whose work has been copied and sold on OpenSea.

From New York Times ● Jun. 6, 2022

That was always going to be a bastardized version of a baseball season, without fans in the seats and with manufactured crowd noise piped pumped into the stadium and broadcast feeds.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 6, 2022

Already, he had heard the locals refer to it as the Newsless Courier, and he had immediately adapted the bastardized version as his own.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

No one finished out 2025 talking about Disney bastardizing everyone’s favorite precocious blue alien, but “Materialists” was still driving conversations and reactions well through the end of the year.

From Salon ● Jan. 6, 2026

The show’s actors say they, too, have been struck by Lester’s sure hand in getting big laughs and by how she brings a modern sensibility to the role without bastardizing it.

From New York Times ● Aug. 10, 2022

The album honors the Black American folk tradition without bastardizing or commodifying it.

From Slate ● Dec. 7, 2021

“I think it is absolutely ludicrous that two countries so blessed with such a wonderful product should be going to court and bastardizing the name manuka,” he said.

From Seattle Times ● Nov. 2, 2019

The murder therefore was to be fixed on Richard the Third, who was to be supposed to have usurped the throne, by murdering, and not, as was really the case, by bastardizing his nephews.

From Historic Doubts on the Life and Reign of King Richard the Third by Horace Walpole

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