Adjacent Words

Degrade definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

DEGRADE, v.t. [L. A step, a degree.]
1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to deprive one of any office or dignity, by which he loses rank in society; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, an archbishop or a general officer.
2. To reduce in estimation; to lessen the value of ; to lower; to sink. Vice degrades a man in the view of others; often in his own view. Drunkenness degrades a man to the level of a beast.
3. To reduce in altitude or magnitude.
Although the ridge is still there, the ridge itself has been degraded.

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

v
1: reduce the level of land, as by erosion [ant: aggrade]
2: reduce in worth or character, usually verbally; "She tends to put down younger women colleagues"; "His critics took him down after the lecture" [syn: take down, degrade, disgrace, demean, put down]
3: lower the grade of something; reduce its worth [syn: degrade, cheapen]

Merriam Webster's

verb Etymology: Middle English, from Anglo-French degrader, from Late Latin degradare, from Latin de- + gradus step, grade — more at grade Date: 14th century transitive verb 1. a. to lower in grade, rank, or status ; demote b. to strip of rank or honors c. to lower to an inferior or less effective level <degrade the image quality> d. to scale down in desirability or salability 2. a. to bring to low esteem or into disrepute <his actions have degraded his profession> b. to drag down in moral or intellectual character ; corrupt 3. to impair in respect to some physical property <material degraded by exposure to sunlight> 4. to wear down by erosion 5. to reduce the complexity of (a chemical compound) ; decompose intransitive verb 1. to pass from a higher grade or class to a lower 2. of a chemical compound to become reduced in complexity • degrader noun • degradingly adverb

Oxford Reference Dictionary

v. 1 tr. reduce to a lower rank, esp. as a punishment. 2 tr. bring into dishonour or contempt. 3 tr. Chem. reduce to a simpler molecular structure. 4 tr. Physics reduce (energy) to a less convertible form. 5 tr. Geol. wear down (rocks etc.) by disintegration. 6 intr. degenerate. 7 intr. Chem. disintegrate. Derivatives: degradable adj. degradation n. degradative adj. degrader n. Etymology: ME f. OF degrader f. eccl.L degradare (as DE-, L gradus step)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Degrade De*grade", v. i. (Biol.) To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as, a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Degrade De*grade", v. t. [imp. & p. p. Degraded; p. pr. & vb. n. Degrading.] [F. d['e]grader, LL. degradare, fr. L. de- + gradus step, degree. See Grade, and cf. Degree.] 1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to deprive of office or dignity; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer. Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar. --Palfrey. 2. To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man. O miserable mankind, to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! --Milton. Yet time ennobles or degrades each line. --Pope. Her pride . . . struggled hard against this degrading passion. --Macaulay. 3. (Geol.) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down. Syn: To abase; demean; lower; reduce. See Abase.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(degrades, degrading, degraded) 1. Something that degrades someone causes people to have less respect for them. ...the notion that pornography degrades women... When I asked him if he had ever been to a prostitute he said he wouldn't degrade himself like that. VERB: V n, V pron-refl • degrading Mr Porter was subjected to a degrading strip-search. = humiliating ADJ 2. To degrade something means to cause it to get worse. (FORMAL) ...the ability to meet human needs indefinitely without degrading the environment. VERB: V n 3. In science, if a substance degrades or if something degrades it, it changes chemically and decays or separates into different substances. (TECHNICAL) This substance degrades rapidly in the soil. ...the ability of these enzymes to degrade cellulose. = break down VERB: V, V n

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

v. a. 1. Disgrace, dishonor, discredit, break, cashier, humiliate, humble, depose, reduce to inferior rank. 2. Lower, sink, deteriorate, impair, injure, debase, vitiate, pervert, alloy.

Moby Thesaurus

abase, abash, adulterate, alloy, belittle, boot, bounce, break, bring down, bring into discredit, bring low, bring shame upon, bump, bust, can, canker, cashier, cast down, cast reproach upon, cheapen, coarsen, confound, contaminate, corrupt, crush, cry down, debase, debauch, decry, defile, deflower, defrock, degenerate, demean, demerit, demote, denature, deplume, depose, deprave, deprecate, depreciate, deprive, derogate, derogate from, desecrate, despoil, detract, detract from, devalue, dilute, diminish, disapprove of, disbar, discharge, discredit, disemploy, disenfranchise, disfranchise, disgrace, disgrade, dishonor, dismiss, disparage, displace, displume, distort, downgrade, drum out, dump, dump on, expel, fire, furlough, give the ax, give the gate, hold in contempt, humble, humiliate, impute shame to, infect, kick, kick upstairs, knock, lay off, lessen, let go, let out, lower, make little of, make redundant, minimize, misuse, mortify, pension off, pervert, pillory, poison, pollute, prostitute, put down, put to shame, ravage, ravish, read out of, reduce, reflect discredit upon, release, remove, replace, reproach, retire, rule out, run down, sack, separate forcibly, set down, shame, sink, slight, speak ill of, strip, strip of rank, submit to indignity, superannuate, surplus, suspend, taint, take down, thin, trip up, turn off, turn out, twist, ulcerate, unfrock, unseat, violate, vitiate, vulgarize, warp, water down, weaken