as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
bastardize the art form by adapting it to popular taste
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Recent Examples of bastardize
But, like all good things, it has been bastardized to the point of not being worth your time.
—
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 June 2026
Our ideals have been bastardized.
—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Short’s personality and complexity, attributes long discarded as her life became bastardized, stand in stark contrast to the inhumanity of her death.
—
Nathan Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
In both, to bastardize a saying, the play’s the thing.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Nov. 2025
The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction.
—
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
Additionally, adding the musical element further bastardizes this tale.
—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
Over the years, though, the cocktail has become bastardized into a sugary drink containing all sorts of fruit juices and sweeteners, causing it to be denegrated alongside the likes of Long Island Ice Teas and Strawberry Daiquiris.
—
Tori Latham,
Robb Report,
17 Apr. 2023
These white people in blackface entertained the masses with stereotypes of Blackness, bastardizing the Black identity in the process.
—
Tayo Bero,
refinery29.com,
4 Apr. 2023
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 June 2026
Our ideals have been bastardized.
—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Short’s personality and complexity, attributes long discarded as her life became bastardized, stand in stark contrast to the inhumanity of her death.
—
Nathan Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
In both, to bastardize a saying, the play’s the thing.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Nov. 2025
The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction.
—
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
Additionally, adding the musical element further bastardizes this tale.
—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
Over the years, though, the cocktail has become bastardized into a sugary drink containing all sorts of fruit juices and sweeteners, causing it to be denegrated alongside the likes of Long Island Ice Teas and Strawberry Daiquiris.
—
Tori Latham,
Robb Report,
17 Apr. 2023
These white people in blackface entertained the masses with stereotypes of Blackness, bastardizing the Black identity in the process.
—
Tayo Bero,
refinery29.com,
4 Apr. 2023
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastardize
Verb
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This involves sealing all cracks, crevices and entry points with materials that won't degrade over time.
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Batteries degrade, actuators wear out, sensors drift, and every safety case has to hold.
Verb
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These movies are about shocking and surprising the audience by setting up an expectation and then subverting that expectation.
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Director Wes Craven executes a masterclass in tension, shock, and subverting expectations.
Verb
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Americans are angry that their kids are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology intended to infiltrate their hearts and corrupt their moral center.
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Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
Verb
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The expansion was supposed to dilute the product.
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However, stubborn inflation continues to dilute some of this momentum.
Verb
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Israel must leave humiliated and defeated — and that is exactly what will happen.
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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.
Verb
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In order to emerge victorious in his quest to bring the World Cup to Mexico, De la Torre debases himself and backstabs shamelessly.
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Most of us would deny that any socially useful work can be or should be debasing.
Verb
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Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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National Assembly President Jorge Rodríguez, the brother of acting President Delcy Rodríguez, said on Sunday that more than 12,000 people have been displaced by the earthquakes and 774 buildings have been damaged or destroyed, including hospitals.
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There's nothing more quintessential to being a kid than playing Little League baseball, but on July Fourth, 2025, along with so much more, the Little League fields of Hill Country were destroyed, along with the innocence of thousands of kids who live here.
Cite this Entry
“Bastardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastardize. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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