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

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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
  • Experts told the Herald that the use of such cages as punishment could violate international laws against torture and degrading treatment.
    — Claire Healy, Miami Herald, 8 Oct. 2026
  • Local farms face ever degrading soil conditions, tougher markets and more extreme weather patterns.
    — Charlotte Observer, Charlotte Observer, 6 Oct. 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
  • According to tax authorities, by inappropriately avoiding gains, investors are subverting the intention of the rules.
    — Cheryl Winokur Munk, CNBC, 2 Oct. 2026
  • There’s a guilty pleasure in subverting a cheesy tourist tee.
    — Alexandra Hildreth, Vogue, 2 Oct. 2026
Definition of subverting
Verb
  • 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
  • Delphi sits above a geologic vent, an X from which noxious gases escaped the earth, corrupting the minds of women who inhaled and pronounced their prophecies.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 6 Oct. 2026
Definition of corrupting
Verb
  • Mortgage demand continues to drop sharply, as buyers face higher prices and weakening affordability.
    — Diana Olick, CNBC, 14 Oct. 2026
  • The upper-level trough over the western United States will gradually advance eastward, weakening the influence of the ridge that has kept us hot and relatively dry.
    — Michael Autovino, CBS News, 13 Oct. 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.

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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 17 Oct. 2026.

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