ABASE Synonyms: 160 Similar and Opposite Words

abase

verb

ə-ˈbās

Definition of abase

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

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms

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

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Recent Examples of abase 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 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

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abase

Verb

With so few ancient samples of dodo DNA surviving—and that which does exist having degraded over the centuries—the analytic and number-crunching power of AI is just what’s needed to fill in the genetic blanks.

— Jeffrey Kluger, Time, 14 Oct. 2026
The partnership aims to keep the platform connected when military operations disrupt or degrade individual network links.

— Aamir Khollam, Interesting Engineering, 14 Oct. 2026

Definition of degrade

Verb

One of its proof points was supposed to be Maine, where Graham Platner humiliated the party establishment, then himself.

— David Weigel, semafor.com, 7 Oct. 2026
This caution is surprising in a writer who has elsewhere been fearless about identity and America, attentive to the country’s institutional capacity to humiliate, compromise, and implicate the people who claim it.

— Zain Khalid, Vulture, 1 Oct. 2026

Definition of humiliate

Verb

This rousing tribute to the free press, delivered by the son of a journalist, was followed by the world premiere of Danny Boyle’s Ink, a film about how the journalists at British tabloid The Sun ended up debasing our entire society.

— Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026
The bulk of these are in regions like Africa and South America, where governments have repeatedly debased national currencies, and prompted their citizens to seek out sturdier assets like Tether’s dollar and gold offerings instead.

— Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026

Definition of debase

Verb

Its inclusion in the documentary has provided ammunition for Musk supporters and his lawyers to discredit the film, pointing to an unfounded conspiracy theory about SpaceX’s Starlink satellites interfering in the election.

— ABC News, ABC News, 12 Oct. 2026
Milli Vanilli won a Grammy, got all this attention and then got discredited and didn’t replace Barbra Streisand or Bruce Springsteen or Taylor Swift or the Eurythmics or The Rolling Stones.

— Ethan Millman, HollywoodReporter, 8 Oct. 2026

Definition of discredit

Verb

But while those will provide short-term relief, the currency is expected to weaken toward the end of the year and mid-2027, and a 100 rupee-per-dollar mark could not be ruled out, strategists said.

— Priyanka Salve, CNBC, 16 Oct. 2026
However, following his arrest, the owner, Mohammad Khan, blamed this week's rains for weakening one of the roofs, according to police, who said the investigation was still underway.

— Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 16 Oct. 2026

Definition of weaken

Verb

Did something happen in her youth that might inform why Cathy, after marrying Adam, goes on to shoot him, leave their newborns, join a brothel, slowly poison the madam, and then take her job?

— Jasmine Vojdani, Vulture, 10 Oct. 2026
Plus, some samples of Martian soil contain high levels of perchlorates, toxic chemical compounds, also found in rocket fuel, that could potentially poison the planet’s supplies of water and food.

— Brian Gallagher, Scientific American, 2 Oct. 2026

Definition of poison

Verb

The left, of course, took this completely out of context because most things fly over their heads, and instead viewed it as Sweeney somehow demeaning women's sports.

— Zach Dean OutKick, FOXNews.com, 14 Oct. 2026
The Democratic National Committee has also sued over the ads, which show numerous images of the president overlaid with quotes from recent speeches demeaning communism while also crediting himself for the largest tax cuts in history.

— Rebecca Beitsch, The Hill, 13 Oct. 2026

Definition of demean

Verb

Rousseau argued that societies were happiest before agriculture and metal production corrupted them.

— Saar Shahar, The Conversation, 12 Oct. 2026
Documentarian Alex Gibney is no stranger to dissections of corrupting power — from his feature dives into Enron, Elizabeth Holmes and Scientology.

— Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 9 Oct. 2026

Definition of corrupt

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“Abase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abase. Accessed 17 Oct. 2026.

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Synonyms of abase

verb

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