1
as in to reduce
to bring to a lower grade or rank
the view that such a system degrades doctors to the status of medical employees who ultimately are not in charge of their patients' health care
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to deteriorate
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
degrading the school's animal mascot with a silly costume
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
the players degraded themselves with their crude antics off the field
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of degrade
As the craft of writing is degraded by A.I., original writing has become a valuable resource for training language models.
—
Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Unfortunately, this can create new problems, with breakdowns at the interfaces between materials slowly degrading the battery's capacity.
—ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025
Keeping them clean is important for optimal performance, but lemon juice can degrade the rubber over time, leading to leaks and poor seals.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 26 June 2025
One of the challenges is that signals in fiber-optic cables degrade over distance.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Hua Hsu, New Yorker, 30 June 2025
Unfortunately, this can create new problems, with breakdowns at the interfaces between materials slowly degrading the battery's capacity.
—ArsTechnica, 26 June 2025
Keeping them clean is important for optimal performance, but lemon juice can degrade the rubber over time, leading to leaks and poor seals.
—Karen Brewer Grossman, Southern Living, 26 June 2025
One of the challenges is that signals in fiber-optic cables degrade over distance.
—Reed Albergotti, semafor.com, 24 June 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degrade
Verb
-
The executive order at the center of the legal battle, issued in March, would reduce the Education Department’s workforce by roughly 1,400 positions, with Trump saying the order would effectively gut the department.—
Jack Birle,
The Washington Examiner,
14 July 2025
-
The maximum $6,000 senior bonus deduction is then reduced by $900 in this example to reach a senior deduction of $5,100.—
Susan Tompor,
Freep.com,
14 July 2025
Verb
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The National Weather Service (NWS) issued a flash flood emergency for Ruidoso on Tuesday, warning of rapidly deteriorating conditions and rising river levels that threatened homes and businesses.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
9 July 2025
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This is where matters deteriorated, as PSG faced losing the player for nothing, having committed hundreds of millions to his transfer fee, salary and bonuses over the years.—
Adam Crafton,
New York Times,
8 July 2025
Verb
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Then two of his classmates did something magical. 'And I was humiliated again' The story Griffin started to tell began in first grade just after his family moved from one part of his suburban New York town to another, and Griffin was the new kid in school.—
Brad Schmitt,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
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Why risk thousands of dollars to be humiliated and possibly denied entry?—
MSNBC Newsweek,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 June 2025
Verb
-
Ballard is a maverick who’s been demoted to assembling a volunteer team, literally in the basement, to review cold case files.—
Stephen Schaefer,
Boston Herald,
6 July 2025
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Then there is Liam Lawson, who was demoted from the Red Bull second seat down to Racing Bulls.—
Nelson Espinal,
MSNBC Newsweek,
21 June 2025
Verb
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Iran's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei is 86 years-old and his political power is weakened following the short war with Israel.—
Jackie Northam,
NPR,
9 July 2025
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The first-quarter boom in U.S. trade is weakening, with merchandise trade somewhat atypically declining for the second straight month, according to my analysis of the the most recent U.S. Census Bureau data.—
Ken Roberts,
Forbes.com,
9 July 2025
Verb
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That terrifying consequence alone is sufficient to discredit the executive order.—
Bruce Fein,
Baltimore Sun,
30 June 2025
-
And for that, I was met with silence, deflection, and efforts to discredit me.—
Stephanie Giang-Paunon,
FOXNews.com,
25 June 2025
Verb
-
Alex managed to bypass Charlie’s detection by training herself to swallow all her natural impulses when lying, subverting the template of the show and what fans have come to expect.—
Matt Minton,
Variety,
10 July 2025
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On the flip side, some influencers have posted images of them wearing Skims' retro girdle as a sole outfit, subverting the 1950s connotation of undergarments as visible only to one's husband, said Einav Rabinovitch-Fox, professor of gender at Case Western Reserve University.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
10 July 2025
Verb
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SoCal embarrassed the Jekyll & Hyde Utah team, who were flying how but who lose easily to the near-last place Hard Eights for their only win of the weekend.—
Todd Boss,
Forbes.com,
30 June 2025
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Such an attack might embarrass Trump and spur him to make good on his threat in his address to the nation on Saturday evening to respond to Iran with even greater force.—
Uri Friedman,
The Atlantic,
23 June 2025
Cite this Entry
“Degrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degrade. Accessed 18 Jul. 2025.
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