degrade
Americanverb (used with object)
-
degrades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
degraded,
past participle, past
-
degrading
present participle
-
to lower in dignity or estimation; bring into contempt.
He felt they were degrading him by making him report to the supervisor.
- Antonyms:
- exalt
-
to lower in character or quality; debase.
- Antonyms:
- exalt
-
to reduce (someone) to a lower rank, degree, etc.; deprive of office, rank, status, or title, especially as a punishment.
degraded from director to assistant director.
- Antonyms:
- promote
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to reduce in amount, strength, intensity, etc.
-
Physical Geography. to wear down by erosion, as hills.
-
Chemistry. to break down (a compound, especially an organic hydrocarbon).
verb (used without object)
-
degrades,
present (3rd person singular)
-
degraded,
past participle, past
-
degrading
present participle
-
to become degraded; weaken or worsen; deteriorate.
-
Chemistry. (especially of an organic hydrocarbon compound) to break down or decompose.
verb
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(tr) to reduce in worth, character, etc; disgrace; dishonour
-
(tr) to reduce in rank, status, or degree; remove from office; demote
-
(tr) to reduce in strength, quality, intensity, etc
-
to reduce or be reduced by erosion or down-cutting, as a land surface or bed of a river Compare aggrade
-
chem to decompose or be decomposed into atoms or smaller molecules
Synonym Usage
See humble.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
degradesimple
-
degradessimple
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have degradedperfect
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has degradedperfect
-
am degradingprogressive
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are degradingprogressive
-
is degradingprogressive
-
have been degradingperfect progressive
-
has been degradingperfect progressive
Past
-
degradedsimple
-
had degradedperfect
-
was degradingprogressive
-
were degradingprogressive
-
had been degradingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of degrade
First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English degraden, from Late Latin dēgradāre, from Latin dē- de- + grad(us) “step, rank, progress” ( see grade) + -āre, infinitive verb suffix
Explanation
To degrade means to reduce the worth of something, as when smoke and pollution degrade the environment. The word can also mean to disrespect or insult: thoughtless comments can degrade a person. If you whistle at a passing woman, you're being disrespectful — your behavior degrades women. Degrade is often used to mean to insult someone because of their gender or race. Degrade also means to break down. Old paper or photographs can degrade when left in the light — their material breaks down so that they crumble at a touch.
Vocabulary lists containing degrade
30 GRE Words Beginning with "D"
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The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn
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How Low Can You Go? Synonyms for "Downward"
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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.
See Examples For:
Recognizing that 9/11’s horrors compounded over the years does not degrade the memory of its initial victims.
From Slate ● Sep. 11, 2026
It has taken a few generations to degrade our public schools and it will take a few, if not more, to restore them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 31, 2026
Farage did not attend the results, saying Essex Police had warned him that an "organised campaign to disrupt and degrade the result" was planned.
From Barron's ● Aug. 14, 2026
The material is relatively weak and may degrade too quickly, which can limit its usefulness when repairing bones that need to bear weight or withstand force.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 12, 2026
I said, determined to see if he would not offer me the use of the dilapidated outhouse, which certainly no human could degrade any more than time and the elements had.
From "Black Like Me" by John Howard Griffin
As frozen ground degrades, previously buried minerals become exposed and water interacts more extensively with rock surfaces.
From Science Daily ● Jun. 20, 2026
When a biopsy is taken, the genetic material in the tissue degrades within hours, unless it is protected.
From BBC ● Jun. 18, 2026
“My biggest fear is that it further degrades mainstream confidence in medicine, and actually leads to a kind of Wild West for patients,” he said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 5, 2026
If it degrades rapidly, that means insects are attracted to the plentiful organic matter.
From Salon ● Dec. 4, 2025
To cast off a faithful servant, only for being the unhappy bearer of ill news, degrades the man and dishonors the prince.
From Familiar Letters of John Adams and His Wife Abigail Adams During the Revolution with a Memoir of Mrs. Adams by Abigail Adams
There are a few fun visual gags about the degraded far-future — a hospital named St. God’s, the city’s digital clock tower being stuck on a blinking 12:00 — but its punchlines tend toward nasty.
From Salon ● Sep. 6, 2026
Intensive agriculture, the application of chemicals and extreme weather linked to climate change have degraded up to 40 percent of land globally.
From Barron's ● Sep. 3, 2026
It's a problem for degraded peatland which makes up about 80% of Scotland's total, but for those in a near-natural state the peat can act as a defence.
From BBC ● Aug. 25, 2026
It provides evidence that nature-led recovery could contribute significantly to biodiversity restoration goals while lowering both the cost and complexity associated with bringing degraded land back to ecological health.
From Science Daily ● Aug. 23, 2026
But it was better, I figured, to have Ronnie a little peeved than to have me a whole lot damaged and degraded, just because I’d let my guard down for three and one-third seconds.
From "Ida B" by Katherine Hannigan
It acknowledged that data centers employ tens of thousands of union members while pledging to fight to keep AI from degrading job quality.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026
"The logic is that with a warming planet, you will see shrinking glaciers, lots of snow melt. The permafrost that is partially holding some mountainsides together is warming and thawing and degrading."
From BBC ● Aug. 27, 2026
“The experience was traumatizing, degrading and humiliating,” André said when the lawsuit was filed.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2026
A ride on a people mover feels even more degrading in comparison to the alternative mode serving other travelers.
From Slate ● Aug. 18, 2026
Kraft was a skinny, harmless kid from Pennsylvania who wanted only to be liked, and was destined to be disappointed in even so humble and degrading an ambition.
From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller
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.
