debase

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Synonym Chooser

How is the word debase different from other verbs like it?

Some common synonyms of debase are corrupt, debauch, deprave, pervert, and vitiate. While all these words mean "to cause deterioration or lowering in quality or character," debase implies a loss of position, worth, value, or dignity.

commercialism has debased the holiday

In what contexts can corrupt take the place of debase?

The words corrupt and debase can be used in similar contexts, but corrupt implies loss of soundness, purity, or integrity.

the belief that bureaucratese corrupts the language

When is it sensible to use debauch instead of debase?

The words debauch and debase are synonyms, but do differ in nuance. Specifically, debauch implies a debasing through sensual indulgence.

the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew

Where would deprave be a reasonable alternative to debase?

While in some cases nearly identical to debase, deprave implies moral deterioration by evil thoughts or influences.

the claim that society is depraved by pornography

When would pervert be a good substitute for debase?

The meanings of pervert and debase largely overlap; however, pervert implies a twisting or distorting from what is natural or normal.

perverted the original goals of the institute

When is vitiate a more appropriate choice than debase?

While the synonyms vitiate and debase are close in meaning, vitiate implies a destruction of purity, validity, or effectiveness by allowing entrance of a fault or defect.

a foreign policy vitiated by partisanship

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of debase The site just becomes a generically unpleasant way of showing Mike debasing himself to meet the escalating prices. Ben Rosenstock, Vulture, 10 Apr. 2025 This is what distinguishes bitcoin from every other modern financial asset – like gold, it cannot be debased by fiat or easily censored. Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025 His illuminating backstage account of cable news describes thoughtful journalists debasing themselves in their scramble to retain straying viewers. Daniel Immerwahr, The New Yorker, 20 Jan. 2025 This is what distinguishes bitcoin from every other modern financial asset – like gold, it cannot be debased by fiat or easily censored. Dave Birnbaum, Forbes, 13 Jan. 2025 See All Example Sentences for debase
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debase
Verb
  • Metal can tarnish or degrade when exposed to humidity, and many materials degrade when exposed to cardboard that isn't acid-free.
    Brandee Gruener, Southern Living, 19 July 2025
  • In the last year, Israel has managed to significantly degrade the capabilities of its adversaries, particularly Lebanon’s Hezbollah, and its June conflict with Iran – with the help of the U.S. – was widely seen as having dealt a significant blow to Tehran’s abilities to harm the Jewish state.
    Natasha Turak, CNBC, 18 July 2025
Verb
  • Over 24 cycles, the show humiliated hundreds of young, naïve women (and, briefly, men) in the name of entertainment.
    Emily Palmer Heller, Vulture, 9 July 2025
  • Soldatov said that along this path was the 2008 war in Georgia, which showed the Russian army would not be humiliated anymore.
    Brendan Cole, MSNBC Newsweek, 7 July 2025
Verb
  • 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
  • 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
Verb
  • What used to be fringe denialism has evolved into a sophisticated, and increasingly profitable, campaign to discredit science, undermine regulation, and politicize sustainability.
    Felicia Jackson, Forbes.com, 11 July 2025
  • The Chinese Communist Party has waged a decades-long campaign to discredit the current Dalai Lama and erase his presence from Tibetan life, while tightening restrictions on religious and cultural practices.
    Simone McCarthy, CNN Money, 3 July 2025
Verb
  • This weakens their ability to educate, create, and grow.
    Miguel Cardona, Time, 21 July 2025
  • This could help verify recent findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that suggest this strange force is actually weakening over time.
    Robert Lea, Space.com, 20 July 2025
Verb
  • The former Islander was removed from the villa after using a word that demeans the Asian community.
    Armando Tinoco, Deadline, 9 July 2025
  • Later on Wednesday, during a solo news conference, Trump continued to push back on that analysis and claimed American pilots who carried out the strikes were being demeaned by news reports about the Pentagon's preliminary assessment.
    Mary Bruce, ABC News, 25 June 2025
Verb
  • When politicians—rather than professionals—can select which types of research can be funded and how that money can be spent based on their own preferences, the entire pursuit of knowledge is corrupted.
    Brian Sandberg, Time, 16 July 2025
  • Any profession can corrupt its practitioners — and arts critics are no exception.
    Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 7 July 2025
Verb
  • The atmosphere, at once debauched and sombre, felt like a wake, one attendee said.
    Rachel Monroe, New Yorker, 18 Apr. 2025
  • But as commercialization took hold, the event metastasized into a pit of hard drugs, drunkenness, and debauch a world apart from its bohemian origins.
    Charlie Campbell, TIME, 17 Mar. 2025

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Cite this Entry

“Debase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debase. Accessed 29 Jul. 2025.

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