as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew to the point where they no longer acted like naval professionals
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Recent Examples of debauch
And regular Kate Moss’s turn on the decks one memorable, and debauched, night in 2015 had revelers literally swinging from the chandeliers.
—
Nick Scott,
Robb Report,
13 June 2026
In its archetypal form, the seduction plot features a sybaritic aristocrat who attempts to debauch an upstanding daughter of the bourgeoisie.
—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
The 2026 State of the Union speech stands in contrast, a speech by a mendacious demagogue who has degraded his listeners by debauching their instincts.
—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
26 Feb. 2026
The dark comedy follows a wealthy socialite, Stacy (Cherry), and a struggling writer, Becky (Chalotra), who are brought together at a lavish, debauched New York party.
—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
But as commercialization took hold, the event metastasized into a pit of hard drugs, drunkenness, and debauch a world apart from its bohemian origins.
—
Charlie Campbell,
TIME,
17 Mar. 2025
In season two, when Mike White’s series decamped to Sicily, the credits riffed on Italian frescoes that got increasingly debauched — with a beat drop from opera to EDM.
—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Life is debauched and consistent, until that handsome twentysomething gent wanders into Lee’s favorite watering hole.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Nov. 2024
Nick Scott,
Robb Report,
13 June 2026
In its archetypal form, the seduction plot features a sybaritic aristocrat who attempts to debauch an upstanding daughter of the bourgeoisie.
—
Becca Rothfeld,
New Yorker,
1 June 2026
The 2026 State of the Union speech stands in contrast, a speech by a mendacious demagogue who has degraded his listeners by debauching their instincts.
—
Eliot A. Cohen,
The Atlantic,
26 Feb. 2026
The dark comedy follows a wealthy socialite, Stacy (Cherry), and a struggling writer, Becky (Chalotra), who are brought together at a lavish, debauched New York party.
—
Lily Ford,
HollywoodReporter,
14 Aug. 2025
But as commercialization took hold, the event metastasized into a pit of hard drugs, drunkenness, and debauch a world apart from its bohemian origins.
—
Charlie Campbell,
TIME,
17 Mar. 2025
In season two, when Mike White’s series decamped to Sicily, the credits riffed on Italian frescoes that got increasingly debauched — with a beat drop from opera to EDM.
—
Jackson McHenry,
Vulture,
16 Feb. 2025
Life is debauched and consistent, until that handsome twentysomething gent wanders into Lee’s favorite watering hole.
—
David Fear,
Rolling Stone,
27 Nov. 2024
Recent Examples of Synonyms for debauch
Verb
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This involves sealing all cracks, crevices and entry points with materials that won't degrade over time.
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Batteries degrade, actuators wear out, sensors drift, and every safety case has to hold.
Verb
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Americans are angry that their kids are being indoctrinated into a left-wing ideology intended to infiltrate their hearts and corrupt their moral center.
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Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
Verb
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Kara Zor-El (Alcock) goes on a planet-hopping mission to save her beloved Krypto – with young and vengeful girl Ruthye (Eve Ridley) in tow – after he’s poisoned by the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts).
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As a final comedic beat, Krypto immediately gets into some chocolate — a playful contrast to his earlier near-death experience after being poisoned by Krem.
Verb
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In spite of their original values of humanitarianism and neutrality, these organizations have been morally debased from within, using the language of human rights and international justice yet deploying it on behalf of autocracies and against the liberal democracies that created them.
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In order to emerge victorious in his quest to bring the World Cup to Mexico, De la Torre debases himself and backstabs shamelessly.
Verb
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Israel must leave humiliated and defeated — and that is exactly what will happen.
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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.
Verb
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Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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The trial collapsed after the journalist was found to have tampered with evidence (he was later convicted of perverting the course of justice).
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In recent years, drag has been positioned as a cultural lightning rod as part of a right-wing political effort to paint drag artists as depraved actors out to pervert gender norms, especially for children.
Verb
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These movies are about shocking and surprising the audience by setting up an expectation and then subverting that expectation.
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Director Wes Craven executes a masterclass in tension, shock, and subverting expectations.
Cite this Entry
“Debauch.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/debauch. Accessed 30 Jun. 2026.
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