debase

verb de·base \ di-ˈbās , dē- \

Updated on: 5 May 2018

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

Pyta pursues the theme at magisterial length, showing how Hitler debased the Romantic cult of genius to incarnate himself as a transcendent leader hovering above the fray.

— naomi fry, The New Yorker, "How American Racism Influenced Hitler," 23 Apr. 2018
Having exhausted his Rolodex of sycophants in less than two years, apparently, Donald Trump has begun the process of going through it a second time to see who will debase themselves again.

— jay willis, GQ, "Bah Gawd, that’s America’s Mayor’s music!," 20 Apr. 2018
The term genius has become debased through overuse today.

— National Geographic, "Where Did Picasso’s Genius Come From?," 14 Apr. 2018
Our politics really is debased when a former intelligence chief intimates that a President will be destroyed based on some information yet to be disclosed.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "The McCabe March Madness," 18 Mar. 2018
Of the many ways in which Trump has asked his various flunkies to debase themselves for his benefit, having a lawyer borrow against his own home might be the most hilarious.

— jay willis, GQ, "Donald Trump and His Lawyers Are Bungling the Stormy Daniels Story in Spectacular Fashion," 12 Mar. 2018
The greenback’s nearly 12 percent plunge since the start of 2017 is being fueled by fiscal and monetary policies as well as rhetoric intended to debase the U.S. currency, Pimco global economic adviser Joachim Fels wrote in a blog post.

— Bloomberg.com, "Five Things You Need to Know to Start Your Day," 31 Jan. 2018
The Death of Stalin is meant to create hatred and animosity, debase the dignity of the Russian (Soviet) person.

— andrew roth, Washington Post, "Russia bans the darkly comic film ‘Death of Stalin’," 23 Jan. 2018
This announcement should end what has been an embarrassing and depressing nationwide spectacle, in which cities debased themselves in attempts to gain Amazon’s favor.

— alex shephard, New Republic, "The Amazon Sweepstakes Racket," 19 Jan. 2018

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

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

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debase Synonyms

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.