Synonyms of degrading

degrading 1 of 2

adjective

di-ˈgrā-diŋ 

as in insulting

intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value

made degrading comments about his so-called friend behind his back

Synonyms & Similar Words

• insulting
• slighting
• demeaning
• malicious
• derogatory
• abusive
• disparaging
• critical
• uncomplimentary
• contemptuous
• pejorative
• deprecatory
• disdainful
• depreciatory
• scornful
• derisory
• belittling
• derogative
• venomous
• denigratory
• hateful
• depreciative
• libelous
• detractive
• nasty
• decrying
• cruel
• denigrative
• defamatory
• slanderous
• unkind
• scurrilous
• spiteful
• malignant
• malign
• calumnious
• opprobrious
• virulent
• malevolent
• maligning
• slandering
• mean
• vilifying
• caustic
• aspersing
• despiteful
• jealous
• denunciatory
• bitter
• catty
• scathing
• envious
• resentful
• acrimonious
• rancorous
• acrid
• jaundiced
• denunciative

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• positive
• laudatory
• complimentary
• commendatory
• approving
• friendly
• admiring
• respectful
• adulatory
• kind
• appreciative
• laudative
• warm
• sympathetic
• applauding
• kindly
• kindhearted
• warmhearted
• unmalicious

degrading

2 of 2

verb

present participle of degrade

1

as in reducing

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

• reducing
• demoting
• downgrading
• dismissing
• busting
• sacking
• disrating
• breaking
• firing
• humiliating
• demeaning
• debasing
• downsizing
• laying off
• lowering
• canning
• humbling
• abasing
• cashiering

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• promoting
• raising
• advancing
• elevating
• hiring

2

as in deteriorating

to lower in character, dignity, or quality

degrading the school's animal mascot with a silly costume

Synonyms & Similar Words

• deteriorating
• humiliating
• corrupting
• weakening
• damaging
• debasing
• demeaning
• subverting
• destroying
• poisoning
• diluting
• debauching
• perverting
• ruining
• depraving
• demoralizing
• disgracing
• polluting
• lessening
• cheapening
• prostituting
• abasing
• bastardizing
• marring
• vitiating
• warping
• contaminating
• profaning
• shaming
• tainting
• cankering
• impairing
• harming
• hurting
• humbling
• wrecking
• thinning
• defiling
• dirtying
• dishonoring
• spoiling
• tarnishing
• watering down
• staining
• befouling
• descending
• defacing
• depreciating
• downgrading
• begriming
• flawing
• taking down
• blemishing

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• improving
• uplifting
• elevating
• honoring
• enhancing
• exalting
• ennobling
• enriching
• amending
• ameliorating
• dignifying
• perfecting
• bettering
• cleaning
• restoring
• respecting
• purifying
• refining
• clarifying
• cleansing
• meliorating

3

as in humiliating

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

• humiliating
• discrediting
• embarrassing
• insulting
• shaming
• disgracing
• debasing
• demeaning
• humbling
• dishonoring
• confusing
• cheapening
• rattling
• lowering
• abasing
• fouling
• diminishing
• criticizing
• taking down
• chastening
• ridiculing
• minimizing
• sinking
• disparaging
• mortifying
• disconcerting
• belittling
• smirching
• detracting
• discounting
• depreciating
• decrying
• maligning
• slandering
• discomfiting
• condemning
• defaming
• defiling
• confounding
• discountenancing
• flustering
• affronting
• castigating
• libeling
• denouncing
• writing off
• fazing
• abashing
• nonplussing
• damning
• censuring
• putting down
• crying down
• bad-mouthing
• execrating
• reprobating
• reprehending

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

• elevating
• exalting
• praising
• citing
• honoring
• aggrandizing
• complimenting
• recognizing
• commending
• deifying
• celebrating
• boasting
• extolling
• cheering
• acknowledging
• applauding
• saluting
• lauding
• decorating
• congratulating
• hailing
• canonizing
• eulogizing
• touting
• acclaiming
• highlighting
• promoting
• dignifying
• glorifying
• advancing
• ennobling
• upgrading
• lifting
• magnifying
• spotlighting
• uplifting
• enshrining
• raising
• feting
• boosting
• playing up
• enthroning
• idealizing
• romanticizing
• enskying

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of degrading

Adjective

Nowak's father called his son's treatment by police inhumane and degrading. — Holly Williams, CBS News, 3 June 2026

The way he was treated was inhumane and degrading. — Efrat Lachter, FOXNews.com, 3 June 2026

Verb

Ireland has been reckoning with the legacy of mother-and-baby homes run by the Catholic Church, in which tens of thousands of women were housed in often degrading conditions. — ABC News, 2 July 2026

But explosions at nuclear, missile and drone facilities and assassinations of scientists outside the direct conflicts of June 2025 and from February 2026 clearly map to the goal of degrading Iranian military capabilities in between wars. — Amy McAuliffe, The Conversation, 26 June 2026