degradation
noun
                                                                                                                            
                                                            deg·ra·da·tion
                    
                                                                                                              
                                                                                                                                  ˌde-grə-ˈdā-shən  
                                                      
                                                          
            1
                    
                                          
              
          
                                                      : the act or process of degrading                                      
              
                             
environmental degradation
                                       the gradual degradation of organic matter
                                       … nothing infuriates the female students more than the degradation of women that is associated with male sports …— Scott Stossel
Scott Stossel
                                       suffer the degradations of poverty and abuse
                         
                
                    2
                    
        a
    
          
                                          
              
          
                                                      : decline to a low, destitute, or demoralized state                                      
              
                             
shocked by the hopeless degradation of the "poor whites"— Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton
                                       Some houses are found spotless, others in a wretched degradation …— Paul Reyes
Paul Reyes
                         
                
                    
        b
    
          
                                          
              
          
                                                      : moral or intellectual decadence : degeneration                                      
              
                             
educated him in the bestiality and degradation that war brings— Drew Middleton
Drew Middleton
                         
                
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  Merriam-Webster unabridged




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