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
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
Society, this week, also bastardized two wholesome childhood fixtures, SunnyD and Girl Scout Cookies.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 10 Mar. 2023
Videos that bastardize neighborhood names, or cluelessly treat storied establishments like new discoveries.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2022
To bastardize the bands Pablo Cruise or Yes, love will always find a way.
—Outside Online, 13 Feb. 2021
What does a profession license mean if you’re allowed to bastardize the court system that way.
—Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 13 Dec. 2020
As a carcass decomposes, the bacteria in the body itself runs rampant, producing its signature stink and bastardizing the soil’s microbiome.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
The initial fear that the band was going to make a killing on wading-pool-deep music and basically bastardize country music was way off-base.
—Chuck Yarborough, cleveland, 8 Jan. 2020
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
Society, this week, also bastardized two wholesome childhood fixtures, SunnyD and Girl Scout Cookies.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 10 Mar. 2023
Videos that bastardize neighborhood names, or cluelessly treat storied establishments like new discoveries.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2022
To bastardize the bands Pablo Cruise or Yes, love will always find a way.
—Outside Online, 13 Feb. 2021
What does a profession license mean if you’re allowed to bastardize the court system that way.
—Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 13 Dec. 2020
As a carcass decomposes, the bacteria in the body itself runs rampant, producing its signature stink and bastardizing the soil’s microbiome.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
The initial fear that the band was going to make a killing on wading-pool-deep music and basically bastardize country music was way off-base.
—Chuck Yarborough, cleveland, 8 Jan. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastardize
Verb
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But warming ocean temperatures, rising sea levels, disease and human activity, such as pollution, have severely degraded Florida's reefs, according to the Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary.—
Julia Jacobo,
ABC News,
1 Oct. 2025
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The team’s goal is to track and predict how asphalt roads degrade.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
1 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The show also subverted what the traditional mother-daughter relationship, and the role of a mother in general, can look like in the modern world.—
Anna Tingley,
Variety,
3 Oct. 2025
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The film examines how boundaries are inscribed and looks to plants as models for subverting systems of control.—
Matt Grobar,
Deadline,
30 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Tales From Beyond the Pale co-creator Glenn McQuaid unleashes a Jason Voorhees whose appearance is concealed not by a hockey mask but a squiggly blur of video noise, corrupting the handheld footage of him stalking college kids through the woods.—
A.A. Dowd,
Vulture,
3 Oct. 2025
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Democrats and civil libertarians said Trump corrupted the system of justice by getting involved.—
Bart Jansen,
USA Today,
26 Sep. 2025
Verb
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The 2024 European Parliament elections strengthened far-right blocs and pushed the centre-right toward diluting elements of the Green Deal, reframing climate rules as sovereignty or competitiveness threats and amplifying cost-of-living and farmer-protest narratives.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
3 Oct. 2025
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Bitcoin treasury craze cools Companies that diluted their stock by selling shares specifically to fund Bitcoin purchases have seen their values tumble by 20% to 50%, according to the WSJ.—
Diane Brady,
Fortune,
2 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Lord Lovat is utterly humiliated and this turns out to be a major problem for Brian.—
Maggie Fremont,
Vulture,
26 Sep. 2025
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There’s always a moment in which somebody humiliates the villain and now all the love in him is gone.—
Daniel D'Addario,
Variety,
24 Sep. 2025
Verb
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Freddy Krueger debases the suburban American ideal through the dreams of teenagers in Nightmare on Elm Street.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
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Only the first is still fashionable, and the last has been so debased, misused, and weaponized over the centuries as to be almost unspeakable in polite company.—
Zadie Smith,
New Yorker,
22 Sep. 2025
Verb
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For investors, even opposition threats of repeal weaken confidence by raising doubts about long-term policy stability.—
Felicia Jackson,
Forbes.com,
3 Oct. 2025
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While his core supporters remain loyal, sustained disapproval among the broader public could weaken his leverage in negotiations with Congress and erode confidence in his leadership.—
Robert Birsel,
MSNBC Newsweek,
3 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Two months after historic floods swept through the Milwaukee area, new data shows that nearly 2,200 homes throughout Milwaukee County sustained major damage or were destroyed.—
Claudia Levens,
jsonline.com,
6 Oct. 2025
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Police in Florida are searching for two men caught on camera destroying a mall store while stealing thousands of dollars in merchandise.—
Pilar Arias,
FOXNews.com,
5 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bastardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastardize. Accessed 7 Oct. 2025.
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