as in corrupt
having or showing lowered moral character or standards
many observers deplored the fact that the city's festivities for Mardi Gras had become a degraded, drunken celebration
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in reduced
to bring to a lower grade or rank
the view that such a system degrades doctors to the status of medical employees who ultimately are not in charge of their patients' health care
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deteriorated
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
degrading the school's animal mascot with a silly costume
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
3
as in humiliated
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
the players degraded themselves with their crude antics off the field
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of degraded
Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 9 Mar. 2026
Looking ahead, the Few & Far team is working to restore more than 200,000 acres of land in the area, replant degraded forests, and safeguard endangered wildlife.
—Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Mar. 2026
Noo Saro-Wiwa, The Dial, 24 Mar. 2026
The Pentagon and Israel's military say those strikes have severely degraded Iran's ability to launch missile and drone attacks, though Iranian missiles have continued to cause damage and claim lives in Gulf states and Israel this week.
—CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degraded
Adjective
About 200 had been recorded by experts over the following centuries, but the remaining messages were too degraded to read — until RTI brought them into focus.
—Ryan Brennan, Kansas City Star, 9 Mar. 2026
Looking ahead, the Few & Far team is working to restore more than 200,000 acres of land in the area, replant degraded forests, and safeguard endangered wildlife.
—Lale Arikoglu, Condé Nast Traveler, 8 Mar. 2026
Verb
Decades of such spills and gas flares polluted and degraded the natural environment, while successive Nigerian governments failed to develop our economies.
—Noo Saro-Wiwa, The Dial, 24 Mar. 2026
The Pentagon and Israel's military say those strikes have severely degraded Iran's ability to launch missile and drone attacks, though Iranian missiles have continued to cause damage and claim lives in Gulf states and Israel this week.
—CBS News, 24 Mar. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degraded
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degraded
Adjective
-
Smuggling — sometimes by rope, sometimes with the help of corrupt jail guards — has long been a problem at the troubled federal jail, which has been plagued by violence, horrific conditions and severe staffing shortages for years.—
John Annese,
New York Daily News,
29 Mar. 2026
-
No corrupt leader enriching himself and the Epstein class buddies.—
Diego Parrado,
Vanity Fair,
29 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
The character, played by Esteban Andres Cruz, has been reduced to a simpering stereotype who makes a pass at a cop and mimics a blow job.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
-
Seen from this perspective, ecology cannot be reduced to questions of proximity alone.—
Manuela Moscoso,
Artforum,
2 Apr. 2026
Verb
-
Conspicuous cracks had developed along the building’s outside walls as exterior stucco deteriorated.—
Karen Kucher,
San Diego Union-Tribune,
28 Mar. 2026
-
Market deterioration Markets have deteriorated over the past few days.—
Matt Peterson,
CNBC,
28 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
At one point in his teenage years, Diaz was publicly humiliated by the football team who forcefully shaved his curly hair.—
Andrea Flores,
Los Angeles Times,
9 Mar. 2026
-
Walz and Ellison were humiliated and could not account for their blundering.—
Joe Soucheray,
Twin Cities,
7 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
That leaves a sicker, older, more expensive pool of enrollees, which pushes up premiums for everyone.—
Max Klaver,
Miami Herald,
31 Mar. 2026
-
As a result, many began calling in sick or quitting entirely.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
30 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
After all, his mother, Queen Elizabeth II, demoted him as a working royal but didn’t do much else and provided him with the money to pay a settlement to Virginia Giuffre.—
Lizzie Lanuza,
StyleCaster,
18 Mar. 2026
-
Just beware of adding something really wacky—like raisins—or you’ll be put on potluck probation and demoted to plate-and-napkin duty.—
Josh Miller,
Southern Living,
14 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Goodwill is corrupted on arrival by the modern virtue of avarice.—
Andy Andersen,
Vulture,
23 Mar. 2026
-
Helberg, cast as inventor Martin Phister, opens up about their characters who are trying to be virtuous and end up getting corrupted instead.—
Marta Balaga,
Variety,
21 Mar. 2026
Verb
-
Still, the author's main argument wasn't totally discredited.—
Big Think,
Big Think,
25 Mar. 2026
-
The traditional security hawks would be discredited, and the populist anti-interventionists vindicated.—
Jonathan Chait,
The Atlantic,
25 Mar. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Degraded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degraded. Accessed 2 Apr. 2026.
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