degrade

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.

1. To fall below a normal state; deteriorate.

2. To undergo degradation; decompose: a chemical that degrades rapidly.

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.