debased

American  

[dih-beyst] / 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

• debasedness noun
• undebased adjective

Etymology

Origin of debased

debase ( def. ) + -ed ² ( def. )

Example Sentences

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

From Los Angeles Times • Dec. 15, 2025

“He was a man who debased other human beings,” he said.

From Seattle Times • Oct. 24, 2023

Meanwhile, the tenor of public debate was steadily debased.

From BBC • Mar. 18, 2023

Disagreements with Professor Wax, he added, make you feel that “you are a fundamentally debased human being.”

From New York Times • Mar. 13, 2023

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