Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Email
Answers.com

degrade

 
(dĭ-grād') pronunciation

v., -grad·ed, -grad·ing, -grades.

v.tr.
  1. To reduce in grade, rank, or status; demote.
  2. To lower in dignity; dishonor or disgrace: a scandal that degraded the participants.
  3. To lower in moral or intellectual character; debase.
  4. To reduce in worth or value: degrade a currency.
  5. To impair in physical structure or function.
  6. Geology. To lower or wear by erosion or weathering.
  7. To cause (an organic compound) to undergo degradation.
v.intr.
  1. To fall below a normal state; deteriorate.
  2. To undergo degradation; decompose: a chemical that degrades rapidly.

[Middle English degraden, from Old French degrader, from Late Latin dēgradāre : Latin dē-, de- + Latin gradus, step.]

degrader de·grad'er n.

SYNONYMS   degrade, abase, debase, demean, humble, humiliate. These verbs mean to deprive of self-esteem or self-worth. Degrade implies reduction to a state of shame or disgrace: "If I pitied you for crying ... you should spurn such pity-=@ellipsis4=- Rise, and don't degrade yourself into an abject reptile!" (Emily Brontë). Abase refers principally to loss of rank or prestige: "Meg pardoned him, and Mrs. March's grave face relaxed . . . when she heard him declare that he would ... abase himself like a worm before the injured damsel" (Louisa May Alcott). Debase implies reduction in quality or value: "debasing the moral currency" (George Eliot). Demean suggests lowering in social position: "It puts him where he can make the advances without demeaning himself" (William Dean Howells). Humble can refer to lowering in rank or, more often, to reducing in pride: dreamed of humbling his opponent. To humiliate is to subject to loss of self-respect or dignity: a defeat that humiliated both army and nation. See also synonyms at demote.


Search unanswered questions...
Enter a question here...
Search: All sources Community Q&A Reference topics
Roget's Thesaurus:

degrade

Top

verb

  1. To lower in rank or grade: break, bump, demote, downgrade, reduce. Slang bust. See rise/fall.
  2. To deprive of esteem, self-worth, or effectiveness: abase, demean, humble, humiliate, mortify. Idioms: bring low, take down a peg. See respect/contempt/standing, win/lose/recovery.
  3. To lower in character or quality: cheapen, debase, demean, downgrade. See better/worse.


v

Definition: shame, humiliate
Antonyms: admire, approve, elevate, honor, promote, upgrade

v. 1. reduce (someone) to a lower rank, especially as a punishment.

2. break down or deteriorate chemically: when exposed to light, the materials will degrade.

degradability n. degradable adj. degradative adj. degrader n.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.

Random House Word Menu:

categories related to 'degrade'

Top
Random House Word Menu by Stephen Glazier
For a list of words related to degrade, see:

  See crossword solutions for the clue Degrade.
Translations:

Degrade

Top

Dansk (Danish)
v. tr. - degradere, vanære, nedbryde, omdanne, forringe

Nederlands (Dutch)
verlagen, vernederen, onteren, verminderen, degenereren, degraderen

Français (French)
v. tr. - dégrader, (Mil) dégrader, s'abaisser à, s'avilir à

Deutsch (German)
v. - entehren, degradieren, (chem.) abbauen, (geol.) erodieren

Ελληνική (Greek)
v. - υποβαθμίζω, εξευτελίζω, εκφαυλίζω

Italiano (Italian)
degradare

Português (Portuguese)
v. - degradar(-se)

Русский (Russian)
унизить, понизить в должности

Español (Spanish)
v. tr. - deshonrar, degradar, reducir en calidad, erosionar

Svenska (Swedish)
v. - degradera, avsätta, förnedra, urarta

中文(简体)(Chinese (Simplified))
使降级, 降低...的品格, 降低...的地位, 使丢脸

中文(繁體)(Chinese (Traditional))
v. tr. - 使降級, 降低...的品格, 降低...的地位, 使丟臉

한국어 (Korean)
v. tr. - 명예를 손상시키다, 지위를 강등하다, 붕괴시키다

日本語 (Japanese)
v. - 地位を下げる, 品位を落とす, 堕落させる, 下がる

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(فعل) يحط من قدر شئ أو شخص, ينزل رتبه شخص, يفسد جودة شئ, يحلل شئ ( مركبا الى عناصره الأساسيه)‏

עברית (Hebrew)
v. tr. - ‮ביזה, השפיל‬


 
 
Related topics:
augment
deify
disgrade

Related answers:
What degrades THC? Read answer...
What is a sentence for degrade? Read answer...
What does \'to degrade\' mean? Read answer...

Help us answer these:
What degrades styrofoam?
What is the diffination for degrade?
Why does deoxycycline not degrade?

Post a question - any question - to the WikiAnswers community:

 

Copyrights:

American Heritage Dictionary. The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Roget's Thesaurus. Roget's II: The New Thesaurus, Third Edition by the Editors of the American Heritage® Dictionary Copyright © 1995 byHoughton Mifflin Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.  Read more
Answers Corporation Antonyms by Answers.com. © 1999-present by Answers Corporation. All rights reserved.  Read more
Oxford Dictionary of the US Military. The Oxford Essential Dictionary of the U.S. Military. Copyright © 2001, 2002 by Oxford University Press, Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Random House Word Menu. © 2010 Write Brothers Inc. Word Menu is a registered trademark of the Estate of Stephen Glazier. Write Brothers Inc. All rights reserved.  Read more
Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary. Collins Bradford's Crossword Solver's Dictionary © Anne Bradford, 1986, 1993, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2008 HarperCollins Publishers All rights reserved.  Read more
Translations. Copyright © 2007, WizCom Technologies Ltd. All rights reserved.  Read more

Follow us
Facebook Twitter
YouTube