devalue
Americanverb (used with object)
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devalues,
present (3rd person singular)
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devalued,
past participle, past
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devaluing
present participle
verb (used without object)
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devalues,
present (3rd person singular)
-
devalued,
past participle, past
-
devaluing
present participle
verb
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to reduce (a currency) or (of a currency) be reduced in exchange value
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(tr) to reduce the value or worth of (something)
Other Word Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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devaluesimple
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devaluessimple
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have devaluedperfect
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has devaluedperfect
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am devaluingprogressive
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are devaluingprogressive
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is devaluingprogressive
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have been devaluingperfect progressive
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has been devaluingperfect progressive
Past
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devaluedsimple
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had devaluedperfect
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was devaluingprogressive
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were devaluingprogressive
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had been devaluingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of devalue
Explanation
When you make something less valuable or less important, you devalue it. You might devalue your car by spray painting it black and letting your dog chew the upholstery. Economists and business reporters often use the verb devalue when they talk about the currency — or money — of different countries, and what it's worth in comparison to other currencies. Sometimes countries will devalue their currency, for example, to get more people to buy their exported products. But you can also devalue a relationship by neglecting it, or devalue a diamond ring by chipping it. Devaluation came before devalue, with a Latin root of valere, "be strong or be of value."
Vocabulary lists containing devalue
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:
“What we want to do is defend against anything that would devalue the elections process,” Logan said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 12, 2026
Are some of the recent changes to the program, like expanding from three tiers of redemption to five, a way to stealthily devalue points?
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026
The company might choose to devalue points, raise fees or make it difficult to leave the program.
From MarketWatch ● Dec. 16, 2025
Inflation is down from 200 percent to 31 percent -- although it is likely to rise again, if the peso is allowed to devalue as markets expect.
From Barron's ● Oct. 24, 2025
When France needed to devalue its currency, for example, they told the IMF in advance.
From "The Woman All Spies Fear" by Amy Butler Greenfield
A pack of cards made up exclusively of jokers would be useless, just as a society that devalues the individual would be inert.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 18, 2026
Wars are financed by borrowing and printing money which devalues debt and fiat currency.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 16, 2026
If AI devalues knowledge, it undermines the US equity market’s advantage and its S&P 500’s 21x forward earnings.
From Barron's ● Feb. 13, 2026
Many Hollywood professionals will tell you not to take unpaid gigs, as it devalues your work and the industry itself.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 1, 2025
He idealizes his beaus and then devalues them.
From Moral Deliberations in Modern Cinema by Samuel Vaknin
It said it devalued parks and gardens and "makes them vulnerable to poorly informed development".
From BBC ● Aug. 16, 2026
But when your points are devalued, your transfer ratio can suddenly become something like 4 to 3.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
But during the global financial crisis, one fund couldn’t honor that value—it “broke the buck”—because it held devalued assets.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 25, 2026
When asked to elaborate on his problems with radio hits, he said that songwriters have been devalued.
From Salon ● Mar. 29, 2026
Now that I’m an adult, I realize that kids know at a very young age when they’re being devalued, when adults aren’t invested enough to help them learn.
From "Becoming" by Michelle Obama
A recent survey from Resume.com showed that 41% of workers believed AI was replacing, devaluing or overlapping with parts of their jobs.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 9, 2026
Though there’s never one reason a business closes, some industry observers and art fans have cited the rise in AI-generated content potentially devaluing original art overall.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 7, 2026
This means more software can be produced at a new very low cost, devaluing current enterprise software makers, or even replacing them altogether.
From Barron's ● Feb. 19, 2026
Last month’s uptick came as China’s central bank recently signaled its tolerance for a stronger yuan amid criticism that Beijing is intentionally devaluing the Chinese currency, also known as renminbi, to boost exports.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 7, 2026
"I think as British people we're very good at piercing the balloon of our own success and undercutting it and devaluing ourselves," he tells BBC News.
From BBC ● Feb. 4, 2026
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
