debase

verb

de·base | \ di-ˈbās

, dē-\

debased; debasing; debases

Definition of debase

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 content

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

Other Words from debase Synonyms & Antonyms Choose the Right Synonym Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about debase

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Other Words from debase

debasement \ di-ˈbās-mənt

, dē- \ noun

debaser \ di-ˈbā-sər

, dē- \ noun

Choose the Right Synonym for 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. commercialism has debased the holiday vitiate implies a destruction of purity, validity, or effectiveness by allowing entrance of a fault or defect. a foreign policy vitiated by partisanship deprave implies moral deterioration by evil thoughts or influences. the claim that society is depraved by pornography corrupt implies loss of soundness, purity, or integrity. the belief that bureaucratese corrupts the language debauch implies a debasing through sensual indulgence. the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew pervert implies a twisting or distorting from what is natural or normal. perverted the original goals of the institute

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.

Examples of debase in a Sentence

The governor debased himself by lying to the public. The holiday has been debased by commercialism.

Recent Examples on the Web

The future may add another caveat: Hate-crime charges have become debased in the public mind because of false accusations. — Holman W. Jenkins, WSJ, "Are Hate-Crime Laws Helping?," 22 Feb. 2019 Alexander Hamilton declared that the dollar was a unit of account weighing 371.25 grains of pure silver, and death was the penalty for debasing it. — James Grant, WSJ, "‘The Story of Silver’ Review: The Other Precious Metal," 20 Feb. 2019 With so many blacks in South Africa mired in poverty, the topic is urgent, but discussion about it has been debased by its association with a notorious and self-serving P.R. campaign. — David Segal, New York Times, "How Bell Pottinger, P.R. Firm for Despots and Rogues, Met Its End in South Africa," 4 Feb. 2018 Engaging in any serious political conversation with him can only debase both our conversation and our politics. — Laurie Penny, Longreads, "Peterson’s Complaint," 12 July 2018 Few actresses have crafted such a challenging, debasing vehicle for themselves as this indie feature adapted from her play. — Frank Scheck, The Hollywood Reporter, "'Eat Me': Film Review," 5 July 2018 Why people are drawn to such groups, which debase them as human beings to the point of mindless obedience, is one of the mysteries Nakamura seems interested in exploring. — Paula L. Woods, latimes.com, "Can exploring the dark side in fiction go too far? Fuminori Nakamura's 'Cult X' presses the question," 25 May 2018 As expenses exceed revenue, the feds can either expand the money supply to pay the bills, thus debasing our currency, or else either raise taxes or cut benefits. — WSJ, "Not Much Has Changed With Social Security," 14 June 2018 Or take the example of airline miles, a form of private currency that is constantly debased by its issuers. — Gideon Lewis-kraus, WIRED, "The Blockchain: A Love Story—And a Horror Story," 18 June 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.