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debasing 1 of 3

adjective

Definition of debasingnext
1
as in degrading

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2
as in perverted

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debasing

2 of 3

noun

as in debasement

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debasing

3 of 3

verb

present participle of debase
1
as in corrupting
to lower in character, dignity, or quality we debase ourselves when we adopt the moral code and behavior of our despised enemies

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2
as in humiliating
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes our failure to win a single game completely debased us

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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 debasing
Verb
This rousing tribute to the free press, delivered by the son of a journalist, was followed by the world premiere of Danny Boyle’s Ink, a film about how the journalists at British tabloid The Sun ended up debasing our entire society. — Nate Jones, Vulture, 3 Sep. 2026 Most of us would deny that any socially useful work can be or should be debasing. — Wyatt Williams, Harpers Magazine, 2 June 2026 Blanche is debasing himself and the law in this shameful pursuit. — New York Daily News Editorial Board, New York Daily News, 30 Apr. 2026 No one wants to be a jester, debasing oneself for a more powerful person’s amusement. — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 27 Mar. 2026 Since the summer of 2025, antiforeigner sentiment—fueled by false or exaggerated claims about migrant workers committing crimes, foreign residents draining welfare coffers, or international tourists debasing Japanese culture—has taken hold in Japanese politics. — Gracia Liu-Farrer, Foreign Affairs, 18 Nov. 2025 But the story of Hilma af Klint lacks the blunt clarity of balance sheets, and her afterlife suggests that money, far from debasing art, is what pins it to the world. — Alice Gregory, New Yorker, 16 Nov. 2025 For decades, bartenders have been defaming the Mai Tai, debasing it, making and selling versions of the drink that were childish and incomplex, saccharine and flat. — Jason O'Bryan, Robb Report, 13 Sep. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debasing
  1. degrading
  2. perverted
  3. debasement
  4. corrupting
  5. humiliating
  6. demeaning
  7. unbecoming
  8. humiliation
Adjective
  • At Fuerte Guaicaipuro, a military facility, investigators documented detainees being confined in pit-like cells dug below ground level and subjected to cold, food deprivation and other degrading treatment.
    — Antonio María Delgado, Miami Herald, 16 Sep. 2026
  • The beating can look degrading, but the check might protect opportunities for hundreds of athletes who never appear in the game.
    — Jason Lloyd, New York Times, 4 Sep. 2026
Definition of degrading
Adjective
  • Tracy Letts plays her perverted husband, while Callum Turner, Jamie Bell, Lukas Gage and Riley Keough star as her very messed up children, and Elle Fanning is Bell’s paramour.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 25 July 2026
  • The gravity of the crimes was made apparent not just in the details provided in court documents but by how family members of children at the daycare reacted when the perverted duo appeared in court for their arraignments.
    — Flint McColgan, Boston Herald, 6 June 2026
Definition of perverted
Noun
  • Piker’s is the worst of the debasement, but by no means the extent of it.
    — Joshua M. Davidson, New York Daily News, 11 Sep. 2026
  • The debasement trade is experiencing a revival, and that could catapult bitcoin to a new all-time high, according to Bernstein.
    — Liz Napolitano, CNBC, 26 Aug. 2026
Definition of debasement
Verb
  • And by engaging with these powerful militaries, the group reinforced its self-image as a major regional player that was uniquely capable of liberating the Muslim world from corrupting American and Israeli influence.
    — April Longley Alley, Foreign Affairs, 11 Sep. 2026
  • Gadgets with screens of any size have long been allegedly melting, rotting, and/or corrupting the brains of youths for decades.
    — Beth Mole, ArsTechnica, 10 Sep. 2026
Definition of corrupting
Verb
  • The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • 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.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Definition of humiliating
Adjective
  • Chanen is among a new generation of wives and girlfriends of pro athletes, aka WAGs, who have proudly reclaimed the once-demeaning term.
    — Carly Thomas, HollywoodReporter, 8 Sep. 2026
  • By demeaning and alienating most people, Capps predicted, the Christian right wing was planting the seeds of its own demise.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of demeaning
Adjective
  • Is there something unbecoming about casting the still-hunky Guy Pearce to play Rupert Murdoch?
    — Bilge Ebiri, Vulture, 2 Sep. 2026
  • According to the Office of the Inspector General, he was investigated for a string of civil rights violations, including improper searches and conduct unbecoming of an officer.
    — Jeramie Bizzle, CBS News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of unbecoming
Noun
  • Phased out in the late 1960s, the second in line to the throne will be spared this particular humiliation.
    — Eva Wolchover, Vanity Fair, 21 Sep. 2026
  • Is there any other setting better designed to experience a flash of public humiliation?
    — Antonio Ferme, Variety, 19 Sep. 2026
Definition of humiliation

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debases
debasing
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Cite this Entry

“Debasing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debasing. Accessed 24 Sep. 2026.

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