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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Mirrors have poor reflectivity and degrade fast, while normal lenses absorb XUV light and stretch the attosecond pulses, blurring their precision.—
Neetika Walter,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Nov. 2025
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Wallin points out that half of the world’s GDP, amounting to $44 trillion, is directly dependent on nature, yet the essential systems that support economic stability continue to be degraded.—
Nia Bowers,
USA Today,
3 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The razor-sharp slasher, which leans into and subverts genre tropes, also stars Drew Barrymore, Neve Campbell, Rose McGowan, Courtney Cox, Jamie Kennedy and David Arquette, among others.—
Natalie Oganesyan,
Deadline,
2 Nov. 2025
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All of it—having children because her husband wanted them, putting her career on hold to tend pear trees in a midwestern suburb—might come across as out of character for Smith, who spent her formative years subverting traditional gender roles.—
Amy Weiss-Meyer,
The Atlantic,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Rather than simply attacking YoungBoy, Choppa frames himself as a corrective force, casting YoungBoy as someone who corrupts impressionable listeners.—
Jayson Buford,
Rolling Stone,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Some people think today’s pro athletes are too wealthy to be corrupted.—
Danny Funt,
New Yorker,
28 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Bleach should never be used on a mattress, even if it's diluted.—
Ashlyn Needham,
Southern Living,
7 Nov. 2025
-
Without the requirement to protect majority-minority districts, Republicans would have far greater freedom to redraw congressional maps in ways that dilute the voting power of Black and other minority communities—areas that tend to favor Democrats.—
Mandy Taheri,
MSNBC Newsweek,
6 Nov. 2025
Verb
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The candidate looks appropriately humiliated to be shouted down by a group of peaceful citizens voicing reasonable opposition, but the stakes are low.—
Amanda Whiting,
Vulture,
29 Oct. 2025
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There was this huge peak between 2000 and about 2018 where there was a decentralized anti-Fascist movement that’s responsible for Richard Spencer going home, for Matthew Heimbach being humiliated.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Within this world no others exist, except as things to be debased.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
In boom times, creditors are more trusting, lending standards get debased, and borrowed money is plentiful.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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With some estimates putting wave heights as much as 35 feet, weakened hatch covers would have been vulnerable to such waves.—
Stephen J. Beard,
USA Today,
7 Nov. 2025
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The years of horrific violence have weakened Sudan, plunging its institutions into chaos and making its population more vulnerable and poorer.—
Ivana Kottasová,
CNN Money,
7 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Just under two million Palestinians—virtually the entire population of Gaza—have been displaced since October 2023, many repeatedly, and Israeli forces have damaged or destroyed more than 90 percent of homes in the Strip.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
3 Nov. 2025
-
Teddy is a conspiracy theorist who believes Michelle is an alien hellbent on destroying Earth.—
Jazz Tangcay,
Variety,
2 Nov. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bastardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastardize. Accessed 9 Nov. 2025.
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