1
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
we debase ourselves when we adopt the moral code and behavior of our despised enemies
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
our failure to win a single game completely debased us
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in degradation
a sinking to a state of low moral standards and behavior
the debasement of professional sports to a shamelessly commercial enterprise
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of debase
Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2025
Unlike bonds, which promise repayment of the primary investment at a future date, warranting demands for higher yields to offset inflation concerns, gold is a physical asset that cannot be debased by fiscal mismanagement or political interference.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Bitcoin joined gold in the debasement trade as a digital alternative to traditional currencies.
—Krysta Escobar,jill Schneider, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debase
Verb
For decades, bartenders have been defaming the Mai Tai, debasing it, making and selling versions of the drink that were childish and incomplex, saccharine and flat.
—Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2025
Unlike bonds, which promise repayment of the primary investment at a future date, warranting demands for higher yields to offset inflation concerns, gold is a physical asset that cannot be debased by fiscal mismanagement or political interference.
—Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Noun
The immediate goal of this concerted information operation is the debasement of American Jews, but the more politically salient goal is the gaslighting of American evangelical Christians—the very core of the MAGA base, and an overwhelmingly pro-Jewish, pro-Israel constituency at that.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 10 Oct. 2025
Bitcoin joined gold in the debasement trade as a digital alternative to traditional currencies.
—Krysta Escobar,jill Schneider, CNBC, 10 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for debase
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debase
Verb
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In their world, which is also ours, selfhood has degraded into taste, preferences, demography, and outlays of attention and money.—
Katy Waldman,
New Yorker,
20 Oct. 2025
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Unsubstantiated rumors still swirl online and in county meetings that wind, solar and battery storage facilities will degrade the environment, destroy rural culture and lower property values.—
Sophie Hartley,
IndyStar,
20 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There was this huge peak between 2000 and about 2018 where there was a decentralized anti-Fascist movement that’s responsible for Richard Spencer going home, for Matthew Heimbach being humiliated.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Pressing for payment could humiliate people, who often arrive with their extended families, Parmar explained, and in a community this close-knit, that could mean losing dozens of patients, including many of the Medicaid patients who keep the clinic afloat.—
Helen Ouyang,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
Noun
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The team believes their approach could eventually help regions struggling with industrial contamination and agricultural degradation.—
Aamir Khollam,
Interesting Engineering,
24 Oct. 2025
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Housing materials in artistic practice are fitting for an environment that is constantly under simultaneous construction and degradation, with sea levels continuing to rise, potholes throughout the city and as our own infrastructure buckles under the weight of an ever growing population.—
Mario Rodriguez,
Miami Herald,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But Interview With the Vampire set a precedent for transformative TV from the Immortal Universe, its narrative and visual audacity subverting adaptation tropes and genre storytelling by challenging viewers’ notions of immortality, sexuality, and destiny.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Oct. 2025
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But Larry, a true cynic, was stuck in a different time, gagged and bound by a tireless insistence on creating art that subverted and satirized those same good old-fashioned family values.—
Michael Cuby,
Them.,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The study authors looked at 13 samples and found no traces of typhus, but their work does not discredit the findings of the 2006 study, the researchers noted.—
Taylor Nicioli,
CNN Money,
24 Oct. 2025
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Many fans have welcomed her to the two-time winners club, joining the likes of Tony Vlachos and Sandra Diaz-Twine, while others have discredited her triumph.—
Anthony Robledo,
USA Today,
24 Oct. 2025
Noun
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Now its economy has collapsed under the weight of corruption, mismanagement, human rights violations and other woes.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
29 Oct. 2025
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That’s what happened in October 2019, when demonstrations against corruption and high unemployment broke out across Iraq, leading to street clashes that left hundreds of people dead.—
Robert F. Worth,
The Atlantic,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Losing him for the entire World Series would weaken their already-thin bullpen, and force Roberts to get creative in high-leverage situations after his starting pitcher has been removed.—
Jon Paul Hoornstra,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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After accounting for lifestyle variables like exercise, the effects weakened a bit as, for example, more active people tend to spend more time outdoors.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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That conflict comes to a head in the middle of campus in the film’s most intense scene, as Alma verbally belittles and demeans her until Maggie snaps and suddenly smacks her mentor.—
Brian Truitt,
USA Today,
15 Oct. 2025
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What once was aberrant—indeed, unimaginable—is now standard Trump fare, demeaning not only to the Presidency but to the rule of law.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
9 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Debase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debase. Accessed 30 Oct. 2025.
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