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abasing

verb

present participle of abase
1
as in degrading
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 humiliating
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

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for abasing
  1. degrading
  2. humiliating
  3. debasing
  4. discrediting
  5. subverting
  6. corrupting
  7. weakening
  8. debauching
Verb
  • Germany's Constitutional Court ruled last year that the extradition was unlawful because it could not be guaranteed that the defendant would not be subject to inhumane or degrading treatment in Hungarian custody.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Moscow no longer hopes to win by merely capturing cities, or even by degrading Ukraine’s energy infrastructure.
    — Dmytro Kuleba, Foreign Affairs, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of degrading
Verb
  • The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Definition of humiliating
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
  • Most of us would deny that any socially useful work can be or should be debasing.
    — Wyatt Williams, Harpers Magazine, 2 June 2026
Definition of debasing
Verb
  • Matthew Cohen—who has also gone by Jason Goose—played his own part in discrediting the files.
    — Ruth Margalit, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
  • This isn’t about discrediting merengue, a genre that also deserves to be celebrated, respected and protected.
    — Sigal Ratner-Arias, Billboard, 16 Sep. 2026
Definition of discrediting
Verb
  • Stalter made a statement with her look at the 2025 Emmys, too, subverting the event’s formal dress code.
    — Catherine Santino, PEOPLE, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Ouweleen, who took over the top job following the retirement of longtime leader Mike Lazzo in 2022, stressed that the network retains its commitment to subverting expectations even as formats change.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of subverting
Verb
  • And by engaging with these powerful militaries, the group reinforced its self-image as a major regional player that was uniquely capable of liberating the Muslim world from corrupting American and Israeli influence.
    — April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupting
Verb
  • Deterioration is exacerbated if water reaches the steel rebar, corroding from inside the concrete mass and thereby weakening the integrity of the wall.
    — Jeffrey Weiss, Artforum, 1 Oct. 2026
  • Those states’ experiences show that weakening graduation requirements reduces accountability for schools.
    — Neetu Arnold, Washington Post, 30 Sep. 2026
Definition of weakening
Verb
  • The 2026 State of the Union speech stands in contrast, a speech by a mendacious demagogue who has degraded his listeners by debauching their instincts.
    — Eliot A. Cohen, The Atlantic, 26 Feb. 2026
Definition of debauching
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.

Browse Nearby Words

abashments
abasing
abate
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Cite this Entry

“Abasing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abasing. Accessed 1 Oct. 2026.

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