as in degraded
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
bastardize the art form by adapting it to popular taste
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Recent Examples of bastardized
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
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
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
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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastardized
Verb
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Its arsenal of ballistic missiles has been degraded.
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LiDAR can be degraded by heavy precipitation.
Verb
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Systems must remain safe not only when components fail naturally, but when data is corrupted, communication is interrupted or execution is violated.
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And then Grisebach uses that distaff twist once again, to comment more broadly on the patriarchal nature and gendered violence of power structures corrupted by historical conflict.
Verb
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The Constitution has been perverted in ways by administrations on both sides of the aisle to facilitate military action.
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Organized sports can easily be perverted.
Verb
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But Raman — whose husband is veteran 30 Rock writer and producer Vali Chandrasekaran — has quietly subverted her showy target in a way befitting that series.
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Last year, the struggle ended—or, at least, got subverted.
Verb
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The decision weakened the federal Voting Rights Act’s protections against racially discriminatory redistricting.
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Brexit’s tortuous complexity weakened governance and led to parliamentary deadlock.
Verb
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The federal lawsuit, filed in September of 2024, alleged that the 2022 DeSoto County electoral map diluted Black voting power in county office elections.
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In conversations about culture, creativity and innovation, Black American contributions are often celebrated while simultaneously being misunderstood, diluted or folded into broader categories that fail to acknowledge their distinct roots.
Verb
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If a pet is poisoned by a cane toad, there are some warning signs.
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The summer blockbuster, which premieres June 26, will follow Supergirl's three-day mission to obtain a cure for her superdog and friend, Krypto, who is poisoned by villainous alien Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts).
Verb
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Air support also was grounded the previous afternoon as conditions deteriorated.
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The situation in Haiti has deteriorated since armed groups took control of most of Port-au-Prince in 2024.
Cite this Entry
“Bastardized.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastardized. Accessed 1 Jul. 2026.
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