degrading
adjective
de·grad·ing
di-ˈgrā-diŋ 
dē-
: causing or associated with a low, destitute, or demoralized state : causing someone to be or feel degraded
a degrading experience
… a work about a young man full of bottled rage looking for a degrading job …—
Penelope Gilliatt
Penelope Gilliatt… any cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment of detainees was absolutely forbidden …—David Cole
David Cole
degradingly
di-ˈgrā-diŋ-lē
adverb
dē-
"I hate to be poor, and we are degradingly poor, offensively poor, miserably poor, beastly poor."
—Charles Dickens
Charles Dickens
When employees are treated degradingly by their manager, they respond with decreased motivation, commitment, loyalty, and productivity.
—Ken Lloyd
Ken Lloyd
Examples of degrading in a Sentence
made degrading comments about his so-called friend behind his back
Recent Examples on the Web
Former detainees and human rights organizations have documented systematic torture and severe abuses inside the facility, including beatings, electric shocks, suspension by limbs, prolonged stress positions and other degrading treatment.
—Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2026
Currently the funds spent by governments and the private sector on destroying biodiversty and degrading cosystems like forests and seagrasses are 30 times larger than the flows supporting conservation, restoration and protection of the natural world.
—Nick Nuttall, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The viewers are confronted with the testimonies of Sabouni, Mahmoud Kadah, Abdelkafi Alhaj, Mohammad Hamki and Abdelhamid Jadou, all of whom suffered horrific, degrading treatment.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
As advertised, Episode 1 was wildly degrading for contestants and weirdly nostalgic for viewers.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 13 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degrading
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Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 31 Jan. 2026
Currently the funds spent by governments and the private sector on destroying biodiversty and degrading cosystems like forests and seagrasses are 30 times larger than the flows supporting conservation, restoration and protection of the natural world.
—Nick Nuttall, Forbes.com, 28 Jan. 2026
The viewers are confronted with the testimonies of Sabouni, Mahmoud Kadah, Abdelkafi Alhaj, Mohammad Hamki and Abdelhamid Jadou, all of whom suffered horrific, degrading treatment.
—Leo Barraclough, Variety, 28 Jan. 2026
As advertised, Episode 1 was wildly degrading for contestants and weirdly nostalgic for viewers.
—Alison Foreman, IndieWire, 13 Jan. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degrading
Cite this Entry
“Degrading.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/degrading. Accessed 3 Feb. 2026.
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