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Synonyms

debased

American  
[dih-bayst] / dɪˈbeɪst /

adjective

  1. lowered in quality, character, or value.

    Part of the reason for the rise in commodities and oil is the debased dollar.

    Even in the debased conditions of wartime, people had dreams of a beautiful future.

  2. lowered in rank, dignity, or significance.

    In the 1800s, many people considered show business to be a debased profession.


verb

  1. the simple past tense and past participle of debase.

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Origin of debased

debase ( def. ) + -ed 2 ( def. )

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

See Examples For:

A currency is never debased in the hearing.

From MarketWatch ● Sep. 15, 2026

Whereas the European gothic, he concludes, was “an enlightened attack on a debased ruling class or entrenched superstition,” its American version emerged as “a Calvinist exposé of natural human corruption.”

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 22, 2026

The very concepts of intellectualism, and of objective knowledge itself, have been debased by a kind of Gresham’s Law, with the bad driving out the good.

From Salon ● Apr. 19, 2026

Yet she knows the history that reduced her to such a debased state.

From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 15, 2025

Working as a lawyer in South Africa meant operating under a debased system of justice, a code of law that did not enshrine equality but its opposite.

From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela

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