debased 1 of 2

debased

2 of 2

verb

past tense of debase
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Example Sentences

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.
Recent Examples of debased
Adjective
The plates feature debased imprints of the same signature shapes, creating a dialogue with the glasses. — Sofia Celeste, Footwear News, 17 Sep. 2026 That wasn’t its only subject; comedy and power and misogyny and creativity and intergenerational conflict and work ethic and, especially in its last few seasons, the debased state of the entertainment industry were all richly explored through lines. — Judy Berman, Time, 8 July 2026 And this has lent Margot a debased sort of celebrity. — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 6 Apr. 2026 But the influencer landscape is getting debased and splintered and a bit draining, even for Kylie. — Nate Freeman, Vanity Fair, 11 Mar. 2026 Now, several polls show that Wyomingites oppose killing wildlife with vehicles, which gives public officials in the next Legislative session an opening to prohibit this debased practice. — Wendy Keefover, Denver Post, 10 Mar. 2026 The script, penned by Bartek Bartosik and Naqqash Khalid, becomes bizarrely moralistic by the end, insinuating that the debased and debauched might perhaps see their problems solved by becoming domesticated. — Ryan Lattanzio, IndieWire, 6 Mar. 2026 In an era of debased and divisive politics, Jon Batiste is putting the pop back into populism. — Andrew Gilbert, San Francisco Chronicle, 15 Dec. 2025 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
The bulk of these are in regions like Africa and South America, where governments have repeatedly debased national currencies, and prompted their citizens to seek out sturdier assets like Tether’s dollar and gold offerings instead. — Jeff John Roberts, Fortune, 17 Aug. 2026 Look at how much the city had debased this pilgrim in six months, a year. — David Hajdu, The Atlantic, 16 July 2026 Haphazardly propped on the ground with wiring and hardware exposed, the flags appear as symbols debased and emptied after centuries of misuse. — Rachel Wetzler, Artforum, 1 Feb. 2026 Within this world no others exist, except as things to be debased. — David Wingrave, Harpers Magazine, 24 Oct. 2025 Dogville, from 2003, is an experimental Lars von Trier film shot on a stage set in which Kidman plays a woman debased and abused by the inhabitants of a small town. — Wendell Steavenson, Vogue, 8 Oct. 2025 Unlike bonds, which promise repayment of the primary investment at a future date, warranting demands for higher yields to offset inflation concerns, gold is a physical asset that cannot be debased by fiscal mismanagement or political interference. — Lee Ying Shan, CNBC, 4 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debased
Adjective
  • Her organization supplies useful trees, restores degraded land while improving biodiversity.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The hospital treats about 175 major pediatric spine cases per year, sparing patients from pain, and in some advanced cases, degraded lung function.
    — Sacbee.com, Sacbee.com, 14 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Obama and Biden were corrupted by donors who wanted cheap labor.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 23 Sep. 2026
  • But, in Hagwon, Lee does not seem interested in the ways in which her diplomatic, kind, generous characters might be corrupted.
    — Sanjena Sathian, Vulture, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • But the Saudis, humiliated by their losses in Yemen, seem likely to lash out.
    — Kareem Fahim, New Yorker, 19 Sep. 2026
  • When she and the other part-time employees were told their positions were being eliminated, Valcarcel said she felt humiliated and disrespected.
    — Verónica Egui Brito, Miami Herald, 18 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Many choose to make use of a corrupt brokerage system, where people with connections in the foreign ministry and other regime appendages facilitate large bribes for new, and sometimes fake, documentation.
    — Andrew Nachemson, The Dial, 22 Sep. 2026
  • But already the thought tugged at me that the scales that had turned were not celestial, but legal, the workings of the same system condemned in the camp as corrupt and broken.
    — J. B. MacKinnon, Harpers Magazine, 22 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Whichever one remains standing will be wounded and weakened, and the human forces can then finish that monster off.
    — Owen Gleiberman, Variety, 27 Sep. 2026
  • From May through August, when technology weakened, other sectors stepped up, allowing RSP to continue higher and eventually reach the upside target from its own inverse head-and-shoulders pattern.
    — Frank Cappelleri, CNBC, 27 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • The issue here is not with this project, which is building something artistic and beautiful, but with a broader, pro-AI tech culture that has discredited AI and its public image.
    — James Folta, Literary Hub, 14 Sep. 2026
  • At the same time, the war on terror fueled an alarming rise in xenophobia and anti-immigrant sentiment and discredited the country’s political and foreign policy elites.
    — Daniel Benjamin, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
Adjective
  • Khadijah had insisted on nursing their newborn Aziza with her own breast milk, but Latif discovers that only a few pouches remain in the fridge and formula makes his baby sick.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 25 Sep. 2026
  • As well as being a holy site, Lourdes attracts around 3 million pilgrims a year, including approximately 60,000 sick and disabled pilgrims.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Sep. 2026
Verb
  • Carney maintained this approach even as US-Canada relations deteriorated and the economic rift between the neighbors grew.
    — Lex Harvey, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026
  • With no unionization company-wide, the efforts of distribution workers to seek any protections have been routinely dismissed while accidents and working conditions have deteriorated at many of their plants.
    — Zach Dennis, Charlotte Observer, 22 Sep. 2026

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Cite this Entry

“Debased.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debased. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

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