1
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
was unwilling to abase himself by pleading guilty to a crime that he did not commit
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
I certainly don't abase myself when I do good, honest manual labor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of abase
Turturro was attracted to the novel’s house style: Its manic, sarcastic, abasing observations, largely written in the third person but never far from Sabbath’s perspective, seemed made for the theater.
—
Marc Tracy, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2023
Pence has long since perfected the ability to abase himself in public without seeming the least bit ashamed.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2023
The question is whether the ways in which Pence abased himself in Trump’s efforts to hold on to power will make his testimony seem weaker or more credible.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2023
The tension of the novel is between the femme’s self-abasing love for the brilliant masculine creator and the artist in search of her own form.
—Saidiya Hartman, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2023
He’s forced Republican politicians to publicly abase themselves and trash the nation’s premier law-enforcement agencies in an effort to stay in his good graces.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2022
Unfortunately, an impulse to abase oneself isn’t resolved by a recognition that human life is a collaboration.
—Caleb Crain, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2021
One by one, internees abase themselves before 60 of their fellow prisoners, repenting of their errors in thinking and their nonprogressive religious practices.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
By the end of the weekend, the entire NBA was in damage-control mode, profusely and absurdly abasing themselves.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Oct. 2019
Marc Tracy, New York Times, 25 Oct. 2023
Pence has long since perfected the ability to abase himself in public without seeming the least bit ashamed.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 24 Aug. 2023
The question is whether the ways in which Pence abased himself in Trump’s efforts to hold on to power will make his testimony seem weaker or more credible.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2023
The tension of the novel is between the femme’s self-abasing love for the brilliant masculine creator and the artist in search of her own form.
—Saidiya Hartman, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2023
He’s forced Republican politicians to publicly abase themselves and trash the nation’s premier law-enforcement agencies in an effort to stay in his good graces.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2022
Unfortunately, an impulse to abase oneself isn’t resolved by a recognition that human life is a collaboration.
—Caleb Crain, The Atlantic, 10 Aug. 2021
One by one, internees abase themselves before 60 of their fellow prisoners, repenting of their errors in thinking and their nonprogressive religious practices.
—James E. Person Jr., National Review, 17 Sep. 2020
By the end of the weekend, the entire NBA was in damage-control mode, profusely and absurdly abasing themselves.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abase
Verb
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Although Israel did not fully eliminate Iran’s nuclear capabilities, its air campaign delayed, degraded, and deterred Iran’s ambitions, and further transformed the Middle East’spolitical landscape.—
DAVID A. DEPTULA,
Foreign Affairs,
11 Aug. 2025
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They are also believed to degrade water quality, which can hurt sensitive organisms like freshwater mussels.—
Madeline Heim,
jsonline.com,
7 Aug. 2025
Verb
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Luthor’s ultimate defeat is an unmasking that humiliates him by confirming his own worst fears about himself.—
Matt Zoller Seitz,
Vulture,
16 July 2025
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Coach Ruben Amorim publicly humiliated him before a loan move to Aston Villa for the final half of the campaign.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
20 July 2025
Verb
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Among many methods deployed, the most common was to debase the circulating coins and inflate the money supply.—
Dave Birnbaum,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
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Read More: The Battle for Our Memory Is the Battle for Our Country But debasing our history through censorship and ideological cherry-picking insults the memory of the nine saints who were murdered at Mother Emanuel, desecrating its sacred space all over again.—
Kevin Sack,
Time,
3 June 2025
Verb
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Activists have worked steadily to discredit stories about famine.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
5 Aug. 2025
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During the two-month trial, Combs’ defense attorneys focused much of their efforts on questioning – and attempting to discredit – witnesses brought forth by the prosecution.—
Elizabeth Wagmeister,
CNN Money,
5 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But Goolsbee said Trump’s immigration crackdown likely has affected population growth and the jobs numbers, but that doesn’t mean the labor market has substantially weakened.—
Paul Davidson,
USA Today,
13 Aug. 2025
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For Trump, whose political brand has long relied on projecting authenticity to his base, a sustained decline in honesty ratings could weaken his ability to roll out his agenda.—
Martha McHardy,
MSNBC Newsweek,
13 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But Trump has poisoned those relationships through his intemperate demands and threats.—
Steve Chapman,
Chicago Tribune,
6 Aug. 2025
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Given the scale of the U.S.'s deficits, the patient may already be poisoned.—
Clem Chambers,
Forbes.com,
4 Aug. 2025
Verb
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But Trump and his allies seem to be attacking CNN for merely reporting on the assessment, even claiming that such reports are demeaning the members of the military who carried out the strikes.—
Ted Johnson,
Deadline,
25 June 2025
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This is not the first time Kaye has taken something intended as a compliment as ultimately patronizing, if not demeaning.—
Chris Willman,
Variety,
18 June 2025
Verb
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The chances that the data would be corrupted three times is very unlikely, Kinget points out.—
IEEE Spectrum,
IEEE Spectrum,
10 Aug. 2025
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Jefferson and his supporters understood that such mixing of church and state corrupted both.—
Time,
Time,
10 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abase. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
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