Definition of debase
transitive verb
1 : to lower in status, esteem, quality, or character debased himself by lying to his supporters … a constitutional amendment that would allow Congress to outlaw debasing the American flag. — Time This is not to say that you should be prepared to debase camping standards. — The Scout Leader's Handbook
2a : to reduce the intrinsic value of (a coin) by increasing the base-metal contentb : to reduce the exchange value of (a monetary unit)
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Examples of debase in a Sentence
The governor debased himself by lying to the public.
The holiday has been debased by commercialism.
Recent Examples of debase from the Web
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Over many years, his voice rang out forcefully in the public square, especially against Mussolini, whom Toscanini hated for debasing his beloved Italy.
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Certainly Republican lawmakers have found a number of new and interesting ways to debase themselves vis-à-vis Trump.
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The announcement may read as hollow given that the Trump Administration has openly supported policies that exclude and debase people of color.
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The debasing view of girls leads many families to rid themselves of these children, seeing girls as a worthless drain on family resources.
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When Haiti won its independence from France’s enslavement, the European country got to work debasing the first free black nation.
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By narrating her feelings to him in all their volatile, debasing truth, Kraus discovers, starting with her hilarious, declarative double entendre of a title.
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The monumentally unpopular Christie spent the better part of the campaign debasing himself in sad and hilarious ways, the hope being that his loyalty to Trump would earn him a fancy cabinet job—
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But the mercurial president has a long history of turning quickly on subordinates, and the political hit late Tuesday in the New York Post was trademark Trump, using the friendly Manhattan tabloid to publicly debase his chief strategist.
These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'debase.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Did You Know?
Debase is often used to talk about someone's lowered status or character. People are constantly blustering about the debased tastes of the ordinary American, and especially the debased music of America's youth. A commentator might observe that both candidates had managed to debase themselves by the end of a political campaign. Debase has a special meaning in economics: From time to time, governments find that they need to quietly debase their countries' currency by reducing the percentage of valuable metal in its coins; if they don't, the metal may become more valuable than the coin and people will begin melting the coins down and reselling the metal.
First Known Use of debase
1565
Synonym Discussion of debase
DEBASE Defined for English Language Learners
debase
playDefinition of debase for English Language Learners
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: to lower the value or reputation of (someone or something) : to make (someone or something) less respected
Learn More about debase
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See words that rhyme with debase Thesaurus: All synonyms and antonyms for debase Spanish Central: Translation of debase Nglish: Translation of debase for Spanish speakers Britannica English: Translation of debase for Arabic speakers
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