debasement
Americannoun
-
the act of reducing the quality or value of something.
The moment any paper currency is firmly linked back to gold, the debasement of paper money stops.
-
the fact or state of being lowered in dignity, character, or importance.
Rich and greedy, he chose debasement, disgrace, and dishonorable practices in order to get even richer.
Other Word Forms
- self-debasement noun
Etymology
Origin of debasement
Explanation
Debasement is the process of spoiling something or reducing its value by combining it with another material. Debasement can also refer to degrading or disgracing someone. The noun debasement can be used in an economic context to mean "lower the value of currency or money," usually referring to coins made of gold or silver that has been mixed with cheaper metals. In the old days, debasement generally meant the removal of someone's knighthood: "The knight's treasonous actions meant certain debasement by the king." Today you might hear someone complain about the debasement of politics caused by big money.
Vocabulary lists containing debasement
"Politics and the English Language" by George Orwell
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The Nickel Boys
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Circe
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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.
Time revealed a path forward that doesn’t demand artistic debasement.
From Salon • Apr. 17, 2026
Following gold’s recent trouncing of stocks, and fears of dollar debasement, was he wrong?
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 27, 2026
Foreign central-bank buying — along with a drumbeat of calls for lower U.S. interest rates and the potential long-term debasement of the dollar — is “very hard to stop.”
From MarketWatch • Feb. 22, 2026
In this debt-currency debasement period, once again gold has been strong relative to major fiat currencies, most of which have debt problems.
From Barron's • Feb. 6, 2026
When other entrepreneurs created jukeboxes by arranging for a phonograph to play popular music at the drop of a coin, Edison objected to this debasement, which apparently detracted from serious office use of his invention.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
