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

“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

From small hacks to amp up existing classics to unique combinations of flavors, there is — to bastardize the iconic "Seinfeld" line — a soup for you.

From Salon ● Jan. 28, 2022

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

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020

And were we to suppose his estate in his power to bequeath as he pleases; why should a man resolve, for the gratifying of his foolish humour only, to bastardize his race?

From Clarissa Harlowe; or the history of a young lady — Volume 4 by Samuel Richardson

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

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

So I do think, yeah, to a degree I bring stuff from that show into, certainly "Someone You Love," the bit that that is taken from is a kind of bastardized version of that sentiment.

From Salon ● Jul. 7, 2023

“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

“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

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

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

From Washington Times ● Oct. 13, 2020

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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