Dictionary
Thesaurus
Reference
Translate
Web
Related Searches
on Ask.com
Synonyms
Nearby Entries
degrade - 6 dictionary results

de⋅grade

  [di-greyd or, for 3, dee-greyd] verb, -grad⋅ed, -grad⋅ing.
Use degrade in a Sentence
–verb (used with object)
1. to lower in dignity or estimation; bring into contempt: He felt they were degrading him by making him report to the supervisor.
2. to lower in character or quality; debase.
3. to reduce (someone) to a lower rank, degree, etc.; deprive of office, rank, status, or title, esp. as a punishment: degraded from director to assistant director.
4. to reduce in amount, strength, intensity, etc.
5. Physical Geography. to wear down by erosion, as hills. Compare aggrade.
6. Chemistry. to break down (a compound, esp. an organic hydrocarbon).
–verb (used without object)
7. to become degraded; weaken or worsen; deteriorate.
8. Chemistry. (esp. of an organic hydrocarbon compound) to break down or decompose.
Origin:
1275–1325; ME degraden < LL dēgradāre, equiv. to L dē- de- + grad(us) grade + -āre inf. suffix

Related forms:
de⋅grad⋅er, noun

Synonyms:
1. disgrace, dishonor, discredit. See humble. 2. abase, vitiate. 3. demote, depose, downgrade, lower, cashier, break.

Antonyms:
1, 2. exalt. 3. promote.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
Cite This Source Link To degrade
de·grade   (dĭ-grād')   
v.   de·grad·ed, de·grad·ing, de·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; see ghredh- in Indo-European roots.]
de·grad'er n.
Synonyms: 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.... 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.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
Cite This Source

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.

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 Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
Cite This Source
Language Translation for : degrade
Spanish: degradar,
German: erniedrigen,
Japanese: 体面を傷つける
More Translations »

degrade 
c.1325, from O.Fr. degrader (12c.), from des- "down" + L. gradus "step" (see grade).
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
Cite This Source

Main Entry: de·grade
Pronunciation: di-'grAd
Function: transitive verb
Inflected Forms: de·grad·ed; de·grad·ing
: to reduce the complexity of (a chemical compound) by splitting off one or more groups or larger components : DECOMPOSE degraded by the action of some bacteria> degrade intransitive senses
: to undergo chemical degradation
Merriam-Webster's Medical Dictionary, © 2002 Merriam-Webster, Inc.
Cite This Source
Search another word or see degrade on Thesaurus | Reference