1
as in to reduce
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
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to deteriorate
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 to humiliate
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
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
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
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in deteriorating
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 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
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 degrade
Bratin Saha, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025
His attorney’s entire strategy is to humiliate and degrade any woman, including both Patti and Nan, who takes the stand.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 30 July 2025
Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 12 June 2025
Much like Ventura, Jane said she was also plied with drugs to keep her awake performing degrading acts, sometimes for days on end.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 7 June 2025
New Atlas, 25 Feb. 2025
Scripts degrading or becoming inaccessible could account for some of the disorientation caused by memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
—Quanta Magazine, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Verb
If a stick of RAM issues a hardware warning or a disk array degrades in a production hypervisor, AI can automatically migrate customer and internal workloads to healthy machines.
—Bratin Saha, Forbes.com, 30 July 2025
His attorney’s entire strategy is to humiliate and degrade any woman, including both Patti and Nan, who takes the stand.
—Maggie Fremont, Vulture, 30 July 2025
Adjective
But while the Internet is torn over whether Carpenter’s submissive position on the Man’s Best Friend cover is funny or degrading, Whoopi Goldberg was more concerned with something else.
—Hannah Dailey, Billboard, 12 June 2025
Much like Ventura, Jane said she was also plied with drugs to keep her awake performing degrading acts, sometimes for days on end.
—Jessica Schladebeck, New York Daily News, 7 June 2025
Verb
Flint Flint even says its batteries can work for a short period of time when lit with an open flame or damaged, ultimately degrading without causing a catastrophic event.
—New Atlas, 25 Feb. 2025
Scripts degrading or becoming inaccessible could account for some of the disorientation caused by memory disorders such as Alzheimer’s.
—Quanta Magazine, 21 Feb. 2025
See All Example Sentences for degrade
Recent Examples of Synonyms for degrade
Adjective
-
The result was viciously insulting, not the sort of thing anyone would want to read about themselves.—
Miles Klee,
Rolling Stone,
18 July 2025
-
To not even reach 10 percent is insulting to all involved and indicates how much needs to change, which is exactly what a group of industry power players are attempting to do in Nashville.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes.com,
23 July 2025
Adjective
-
No racist stereotypes, no demeaning facial expressions, no bowed heads, and no broken bodies from the old Hollywood.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 July 2025
-
Or the controversy over the stereotypically demeaning roles Black actors depicted.—
Paula L. Woods,
Los Angeles Times,
6 June 2025
Adjective
-
Accessing the code prompts recipients to provide personal and financial information, or can lead to downloading malicious software.—
Laura Daniella Sepulveda,
AZCentral.com,
15 Aug. 2025
-
Victims are then defrauded again, with more money lost to these malicious recovery schemes.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
14 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
McLaughlin said about 150 protesters gathered nearby and directed derogatory comments at ICE and partner personnel.—
Kaelan Deese,
The Washington Examiner,
15 Aug. 2025
-
The question surprised the three of us because no one was saying anything personal or derogatory about Smith.—
Christine Brennan,
CNN Money,
6 July 2025
Adjective
-
The decision sparked a firestorm on social media — where much of the debate around these issues is taking place — and Jackson-Smith was the target of abusive and threatening comments from both pro-Israel and pro-Palestine supporters.—
Scott Roxborough,
HollywoodReporter,
7 Aug. 2025
-
At the same time, Mahoney was dealing with legal battles against her abusive ex-boyfriend.—
Victoria Elena Valenzuela,
USA Today,
2 Aug. 2025
Adjective
-
Living the Values: Nothing is more disparaging for employees than having a leader who demonstrates behaviors that do not align with the organizational values, and no one seems to care.—
Tony Gambill,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
-
The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
Adjective
-
The collapse of the Oxbow Bridge, which linked Cibola in La Paz County to California, poses a serious threat to public health and safety and has cut off a critical access route between the two states, the La Paz County Board of Supervisors said.—
Wren Smetana,
AZCentral.com,
9 Aug. 2025
-
Experts have long warned about allowing critical supplies to be highly concentrated in one place.—
Nathaniel Weixel,
The Hill,
8 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Degrade.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/degrade. Accessed 20 Aug. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share