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
The big picture: The Fiery Furnace is a dramatic, labyrinthine cluster of rock fins and hoodoos — a fragile landscape that was degrading from overuse before permits were implemented in the 1990s.
—
Erin Alberty, Axios, 24 Mar. 2025
The company tried to remedy the pain with options that, on the surface, felt reasonable, especially given the fact that batteries are well-known as consumable objects that degrade over time.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 24 Mar. 2025
Thanks to their shallow roots, these plants only need to be repotted about once every 3 years, or when their soil starts to degrade.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Mar. 2025
This can lead to greater inefficiencies and mistakes, further degrading the customer experience.
—John Hall, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Erin Alberty, Axios, 24 Mar. 2025
The company tried to remedy the pain with options that, on the surface, felt reasonable, especially given the fact that batteries are well-known as consumable objects that degrade over time.
—Nate Anderson, Ars Technica, 24 Mar. 2025
Thanks to their shallow roots, these plants only need to be repotted about once every 3 years, or when their soil starts to degrade.
—Lauren Landers, Better Homes & Gardens, 24 Mar. 2025
This can lead to greater inefficiencies and mistakes, further degrading the customer experience.
—John Hall, Forbes.com, 13 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degrade
Verb
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Higher temperatures may also reduce the sugar content of maple sap, meaning producers will need to collect and boil more sap to produce the same quantities of syrup.—
Nina Foster,
JSTOR Daily,
28 Mar. 2025
-
This should reduce prep time from over 24 hours to about 15 minutes.—
Sarah Bence,
Verywell Health,
28 Mar. 2025
Verb
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The ministry said that due to the sweeping tariffs imposed by the U.S., as well as the U.S.-China trade war, the growth outlook for both the U.S. and China will deteriorate.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
14 Apr. 2025
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Israel-Turkey relations deteriorated in 2010 after Israeli naval commandos intercepted a humanitarian flotilla attempting to breach the blockade on the Gaza Strip.—
Paul Iddon,
Forbes.com,
14 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
There was a period when Broadway creators thought the only way to get a performance was to humiliate a person.—
Mark Seliger,
Vulture,
7 Apr. 2025
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An investigation of at least eight fraternities found that members humiliated students through means like beating them with paddles or forcing potential recruits to eat live fish and drink urine, according to court filings.—
Dan Belson,
Baltimore Sun,
3 Apr. 2025
Verb
-
Rangers had been demoted to the third tier in 2012 for financial misconduct, then risen again.—
Michael Walker,
New York Times,
13 Apr. 2025
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That was not enough for the Thai to preserve his seat with Sergio Perez waiting in the wings for 2021 as he was demoted to reserve driver.—
Dan Cancian,
Forbes.com,
31 Mar. 2025
Verb
-
Agreeing to a pick swap with the Lynx weakened the value of the pick that the Sky traded away.—
Julia Poe,
Chicago Tribune,
14 Apr. 2025
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One by one, the sectors defect, and, eventually, the leader may weaken and their government may fall.—
Julia Angwin,
New Yorker,
12 Apr. 2025
Verb
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His tariffs were not based on the import taxes charged by other countries but by the size of each trade deficit, a calculation that instantly discredited the policy with many economists and investors.—
Time,
Time,
10 Apr. 2025
-
Bolsonaro’s efforts to discredit the election had already found allies abroad.—
Jon Lee Anderson,
New Yorker,
7 Apr. 2025
Verb
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Project 2025 is explicitly derived from the processes used by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán to subvert his country’s democracy and by Russian leader Vladimir Putin to subvert the inchoate democratic movement after the fall of the Soviet Union.—
DP Opinion,
Denver Post,
4 Apr. 2025
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With a limited color palette and very spare design, the show subverts the commonplace elements of an office and invents a haunting visual language all its own that creeps you out while drawing you in.—
Charlotte Collins,
Architectural Digest,
20 Mar. 2025
Verb
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Mariah Carey just pulled a classic mom move by embarrassing her teenage son in front of his friends.—
Mitchell Peters,
Billboard,
5 Apr. 2025
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The leaking was intended to embarrass Bork, whose nomination was ultimately rejected by the U.S. Senate albeit for reasons unrelated to his rental list.—
Michael McCann,
Sportico.com,
20 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Degrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degrade. Accessed 23 Apr. 2025.
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