TimeThe Scout Leader's Handbook
Did you know?
Debase is often used to talk about someone's lowered status or character. People are constantly blustering about the debased tastes of the ordinary American, and especially the debased music of America's youth. A commentator might observe that both candidates had managed to debase themselves by the end of a political campaign. Debase has a special meaning in economics: From time to time, governments find that they need to quietly debase their countries' currency by reducing the percentage of valuable metal in its coins; if they don't, the metal may become more valuable than the coin and people will begin melting the coins down and reselling the metal.
Examples of debase in a Sentence
David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025
In boom times, creditors are more trusting, lending standards get debased, and borrowed money is plentiful.
—John Cassidy, New Yorker, 13 Oct. 2025
Dogville, from 2003, is an experimental Lars von Trier film shot on a stage set in which Kidman plays a woman debased and abused by the inhabitants of a small town.
—Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025
Freddy Krueger debases the suburban American ideal through the dreams of teenagers in Nightmare on Elm Street.
—Rachel Raposas, PEOPLE, 29 Sep. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debase
Cite this Entry
“Debase.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/debase. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
Copy Citation
Share