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

You simply had — to bastardize a phrase popularized by Timothy Leary — to turn in, tune out and drop out.

From Salon ● Dec. 8, 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

“My fear is that what was meant for good, in terms of pancreas donation, is being bastardized for self-preservation” by organ procurement organizations, he said in an interview.

From Washington Post ● Mar. 20, 2023

I must stress: I do not want to be transformed into any sort of bastardized, unknown A.I. substrate at any point in the future.

From Slate ● Feb. 21, 2022

Fearing youthful tongues, Ben and Mary Anne had not allowed the other two to participate in their bastardized version of the ball until this year.

From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy

Duck à l’orange has a reputation as an archaic 1970s atrocity owing to American cooks bastardizing what should be a glistening garnish into a sickly-sweet goop.

From Salon ● Nov. 1, 2025

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

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

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020

I should haue bin that I am, had the maidenlest Starre in the Firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.

From King Lear by William Shakespeare

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