debase

verb de·base \ di-ˈbās , dē- \

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

2 a :to reduce the intrinsic value of (a coin) by increasing the base-metal content

b :to reduce the exchange value of (a monetary unit)

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debasement

play \-ˈbās-mənt\ noun

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debaser

play \-ˈbā-sər\ noun

See debase defined for English-language learners

See debase defined for kids

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

Over many years, his voice rang out forcefully in the public square, especially against Mussolini, whom Toscanini hated for debasing his beloved Italy.

— jonathan rosenberg, The Christian Science Monitor, "'Toscanini: Musician of Conscience' is a feast of music, culture, politics," 29 June 2017
Certainly Republican lawmakers have found a number of new and interesting ways to debase themselves vis-à-vis Trump.

— chris stirewalt, Fox News, "'Nice'," 15 June 2017
The announcement may read as hollow given that the Trump Administration has openly supported policies that exclude and debase people of color.

— brian josephs, Billboard, "Donald Trump's Historically Shallow Relationship With Black Music," 1 June 2017
The debasing view of girls leads many families to rid themselves of these children, seeing girls as a worthless drain on family resources.

— atlanta life, ajc, "She is safe — rescuing young girls around the world," 26 May 2017
When Haiti won its independence from France’s enslavement, the European country got to work debasing the first free black nation.

— brian josephs, The Root, "Trump Administration’s Failure to Recognize Haiti Is a Painful American Tradition," 23 May 2017
By narrating her feelings to him in all their volatile, debasing truth, Kraus discovers, starting with her hilarious, declarative double entendre of a title.

— alexandra schwartz, The New Yorker, "A Deflated Adaptation of the Singular Cult Novel “I Love Dick”," 15 May 2017
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—

— eric armstrong, New Republic, "Chris Christie as FBI director would be a five-alarm fire for democracy.," 10 May 2017
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.

— the washington post, The Denver Post, "Inside Bannon’s struggle: From “shadow president” to Trump’s marked man," 13 Apr. 2017

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

debase Synonyms

Synonyms

abase, bastardize, canker, cheapen, corrupt, debauch, degrade, demean, demoralize, deprave, deteriorate, lessen, pervert, poison, profane, prostitute, subvert, vitiate, warp

Antonyms

elevate, ennoble, uplift

Related Words

befoul, begrime, contaminate, defile, dilute, dirty, pollute, taint, thin, water down, weaken; descend; disgrace, dishonor, humble, humiliate, shame, take down; blemish, damage, deface, destroy, flaw, harm, hurt, impair, mar, ruin, spoil, stain, tarnish, wreck; depreciate, downgrade

Near Antonyms

dignify, exalt, honor; ameliorate, amend, better, enhance, enrich, improve, meliorate, perfect; clarify, clean, cleanse, purify, refine, restore; respect

Synonym Discussion of debase

debase, vitiate, deprave, corrupt, debauch, pervert mean to cause deterioration or lowering in quality or character. debase implies a loss of position, worth, value, or dignity.