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
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 degraded
Emma McGrattan, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
An additional 2030 target specified that 30 percent of degraded land and water ecosystems be under effective restoration.
—Mark Vanderschaaf, Twin Cities, 18 May 2026
Susan Montoya Bryan, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
His moves to West Ham United and Milan have badly degraded the 33-year-old’s stock.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degraded
Adjective
Retrieval pipelines can flag degraded trust signals.
—Emma McGrattan, Forbes.com, 27 May 2026
An additional 2030 target specified that 30 percent of degraded land and water ecosystems be under effective restoration.
—Mark Vanderschaaf, Twin Cities, 18 May 2026
Verb
At Vermejo Park Ranch, purchased in the mid-1990s from Pennzoil and spanning more than 870 square miles near the New Mexico-Colorado border, Turner’s team has worked to restore mountainsides and valleys degraded by overgrazing, mining and clear-cutting.
—Susan Montoya Bryan, Los Angeles Times, 12 May 2026
His moves to West Ham United and Milan have badly degraded the 33-year-old’s stock.
—Sebastian Stafford-Bloor, New York Times, 27 Apr. 2026
See All Example Sentences for degraded
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degraded
Adjective
-
Fujimori is linked to the authoritarian and corrupt legacy of the government of her late father, Alberto Fujimori, in the 1990s.—
ABC News,
ABC News,
7 June 2026
-
Of course, all of this convenient acquiescence will sound familiar in the United States, where our own Congress and Department of Justice have been nothing if not servile to a brazenly corrupt executive.—
Daniel Alarcón,
New Yorker,
4 June 2026
Verb
-
The Knicks are down by 23 points early in the second quarter, and are only shooting 33% from the field, and Madison Square Garden has been reduced to murmurs.—
Andrew Greif,
NBC news,
11 June 2026
-
Language barriers may soon be greatly reduced, allowing for a historically impossible level of information sharing and growth.—
Jessica Melugin,
Mercury News,
10 June 2026
Verb
-
Fertilizer affordability has deteriorated to levels not seen since the Arab Spring.—
John W.H. Denton AO,
Fortune,
6 June 2026
-
By the time Asher, 3 years old at the time, was admitted to a children's hospital for a second time, his condition had significantly deteriorated.—
Jordan Greene,
PEOPLE,
5 June 2026
Verb
-
In the ongoing fight for women’s equal rights, Pawol had proved a female baseball umpire can be second-guessed, proved wrong and humiliated by technology and mocked by howling fans on social media just like a man can.—
Miami Herald,
Miami Herald,
2 June 2026
-
Villanova humiliated UConn, winning 81-61, after building out a 31-point lead.—
Dom Amore,
Hartford Courant,
26 May 2026
Adjective
-
One daycare worker had also called in sick that morning and another child was on the way.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
8 June 2026
-
The Food and Drug Administration and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued an investigation notice and public health advisory on Thursday, June 4, after eight people became sick across three states.—
Mary Walrath-Holdridge,
USA Today,
8 June 2026
Verb
-
Royce Lewis’ production at the plate since being demoted to Triple-A for a reset has drawn all kinds of attention.—
Betsy Helfand,
Twin Cities,
3 June 2026
-
After Juventus were demoted to Serie B in 2006 following the Calciopoli scandal, Gianluigi Buffon, Giorgio Chiellini, Alessandro Del Piero, Pavel Nedved and David Trezeguet stayed.—
Roshane Thomas,
New York Times,
2 June 2026
Verb
-
Systems must remain safe not only when components fail naturally, but when data is corrupted, communication is interrupted or execution is violated.—
John Wall,
Forbes.com,
28 May 2026
-
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.—
Jessica Kiang,
Variety,
22 May 2026
Verb
-
After the war, his goalscoring statistics were deleted and his achievements were discredited, with the Polish press labelling him as mentally unstable and an alcoholic.—
Tim Spiers,
New York Times,
1 June 2026
-
The case later drew attention from the Innocence Project, which said advances in DNA testing ultimately discredited the prosecution’s core forensic evidence.—
Stepheny Price,
FOXNews.com,
7 May 2026
Cite this Entry
“Degraded.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degraded. Accessed 12 Jun. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
