debase

[ dih-beys ]

/ dɪˈbeɪs /

SEE SYNONYMS FOR debase ON THESAURUS.COM

verb (used with object), de·based, de·bas·ing.

to reduce in quality or value; adulterate: They debased the value of the dollar.

to lower in rank, dignity, or significance: He wouldn't debase himself by doing manual labor.

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Can You Remember Your Favorite Words Of The Day From March?

Even if you’re a habitué of Word of the Day, you haven’t seen our March words in these ways! Challenge yourself to our comprehensive quiz!

Question 1 of 15

What does "habitué" mean?

a person who is especially competent to pass critical judgments in an art, particularly one of the fine arts, or in matters of taste.

a frequent or habitual visitor to a place.

a lazy person who stays in bed long after the usual time for arising.

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Origin of debase

1555–65; de- + base²; cf. abase

SYNONYMS FOR debase

1 lower, vitiate, corrupt; contaminate, pollute, defile.

2 degrade, abase, demean, reduce.

SEE SYNONYMS FOR debase ON THESAURUS.COM

OTHER WORDS FROM debase

de·bas·ed·ness

[dih-bey-sid-nis, -beyst-] /dɪˈbeɪ sɪd nɪs, -ˈbeɪst-/, nounde·base·ment, nounde·bas·er, nounde·bas·ing·ly, adverb

self-de·base·ment, nounun·de·based, adjective

Words nearby debase

debag, debakey, debanding, debar, debark, debase, debatable, debate, debauch, debauched, debauchee

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2020

Example sentences from the Web for debased

Criminals and gangs were thought to be motivated by a debased sense of honor or a simple desire to seize property.
Money and Guns: How We Escape Our Existential Dread|James Poulos|April 18, 2014|DAILY BEAST
We see the bad with the good, the debased and decadent with the sound and vital.
Obama's Fighting Speech - Part 1|David Frum|January 21, 2013|DAILY BEAST
And it makes you wonder if journalism has not been so debased that foreign policy has become impossible.
Krauthammer's Libya Intervention|Bernard Avishai|October 19, 2012|DAILY BEAST
The whole world of criticism and reviewing has been debased because the critic now is pressured to perform as part publicist.
Letter to a Young Critic: William Giraldi Defends True Criticism|William Giraldi|September 5, 2012|DAILY BEAST

Latinas are debased by their poverty, thus making them accessible to any man with a few bucks.
Obama's Porn Problem With Liberals|McKay Coppins|April 21, 2011|DAILY BEAST
The Dutch, who have retained in a debased form their own language, also engage largely in agriculture and viticulture.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 5, Slice 2|Various
They are not merely plebeian, they are low, debased, criminal.
The Award of Justice|A. Maynard Barbour
No one can walk along our streets and not see how debased and sensual our tastes have become.
The Germ|Various
Long oppression had not, on the whole, either blunted their intellects or debased their morals.
Creed And Deed|Felix Adler
But this view of sacrifice is not merely a heathen, but a late and debased heathen conception.
Gloria Crucis|J. H. Beibitz

British Dictionary definitions for debased

debase

/ (dɪˈbeɪs) /

verb

(tr) to lower in quality, character, or value, as by adding cheaper metal to coins; adulterate

Derived forms of debase

debasedness (dɪˈbeɪsɪdnɪs), noundebasement, noundebaser, noundebasingly, adverb

Word Origin for debase

C16: see de-, base ²

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

debase

verb (used with object), de·based, de·bas·ing.

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Origin of debase

SYNONYMS FOR debase

OTHER WORDS FROM debase

Words nearby debase

Words related to debased

Example sentences from the Web for debased

British Dictionary definitions for debased

verb

Derived forms of debase

Word Origin for debase