degradation

American  

[deg-ruh-day-shuhn] / ˌdɛg rəˈdeɪ ʃən /

noun

• degradations
  plural

1. the act of degrading.

2. the state of being degraded.

   Synonyms:

   debasement, dishonor, disgrace, humiliation

3. Physical Geography. the wearing down of the land by the erosive action of water, wind, or ice.

4. Chemistry. the breakdown of an organic compound.

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degradation British  

/ ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən /

noun

1. the act of degrading or the state of being degraded

2. a state of degeneration, squalor, or poverty

3. some act, constraint, etc, that is degrading

4. the wearing down of the surface of rocks, cliffs, etc, by erosion, weathering, or some other process

5. chem a breakdown of a molecule into atoms or smaller molecules

6. physics an irreversible process in which the energy available to do work is decreased

7. RC Church the permanent unfrocking of a priest

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• nondegradation
  noun
• self-degradation
  noun
• antidegradation
  adjective
• degradational
  adjective
• degradative
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• degradations
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of degradation

First recorded in 1525–35; from Late Latin dēgradātiōn-, stem of dēgradātiō, from dēgradāt(us) “degraded” (past participle of dēgradāre; see degrade) + -iō -ion

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Explanation

Degradation is the act of lowering something or someone to a less respected state. A president resigning from office is a degradation. It’s also a downcast state. Once the president has resigned, he might feel degradation. The noun degradation is related to the verb degrade, which comes from the Latin degradare. Degradare comes from de-, meaning “down,” and gradus, meaning "step." You can think of a degradation as a step down, or feeling as though you’re a step below.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

degradation degradations

We can survive the degradation of the symbolic national unity of voting.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 2, 2026

Another factor is the degradation of Russia’s refinery infrastructure, which has sustained considerable damage from Ukrainian attacks.

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

The car has been slow, and the team have struggled with consistency between parts, as well as quality and degradation.

From BBC ● Oct. 27, 2026

For scientists studying plastic pollution, the finding offers a promising clue about how biological degradation might be improved.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 16, 2026

“Perhaps my wife won’t like London; then the sentence is banishment & degradation into indolent, idle fool.”

From "Charles and Emma: The Darwins' Leap of Faith" by Deborah Heiligman

We, as humans, are susceptible to an idea from ecology called shifting baseline syndrome, in which we too easily mentally adapt to degradations in our environment because we don’t remember how things used to be.

From Slate ● Mar. 24, 2024

Under Hawpe’s leadership, the Courier Journal successfully fought to rein in the excesses and environmental degradations of the mining industry.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 19, 2021

She simply lets the degradations of Ivy, Ruby and Wren pile up until the nature of the crisis is inescapable.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 7, 2020

First, he didn’t mention a word about poverty as a primary driver of environmental degradations.

From Washington Post ● Apr. 29, 2020

But within our boundaries we, too, drew a line that included our right to bread regardless of the indignities or degradations involved in getting it.

From "Black Boy" by Richard Wright

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Related Words

• degeneration
• deterioration

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