depraving

verb

present participle of deprave
as in degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality the belief that pornography depraves society as a whole

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for depraving
  1. degrading
  2. corrupting
  3. debauching
  4. weakening
  5. poisoning
  6. subverting
  7. deteriorating
  8. humiliating
Verb
  • The Kremlin has also started to systematically target Ukrainian ports and ships in the Black Sea in hopes of degrading the infrastructure that supports the country’s agricultural exports.
    — Alexander Gabuev, Foreign Affairs, 31 July 2026
  • In a public service announcement Thursday, the agencies said water and wastewater utilities have reported incidents to the FBI, with some malicious activity degrading water operations.
    — Daniel Arkin, NBC news, 31 July 2026
Definition of degrading
Verb
  • Validation rules, schema standards and completeness checks at the entry point prevent bad master data from corrupting everything downstream.
    — Jacqueline DeStefano-Tangorra, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026
  • Character also involves standing up to people who are bankrupting and corrupting this country.
    — CBS News, CBS News, 31 May 2026
Definition of corrupting
Verb
  • 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
Definition of debauching
Verb
  • But the horrible jobs data suggests the central bank may have to think about weakening consumer spending as well.
    — Sarah Min, CNBC, 7 Aug. 2026
  • The lawsuit comes just after Missourians overwhelmingly voted against weakening the initiative petition process.
    — Jack Harvel, Kansas City Star, 6 Aug. 2026
Definition of weakening
Verb
  • In the past farmers have been suspected of deliberately poisoning elephants to prevent them from eating crops.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 29 July 2026
  • Historically used in dry cleaning or to degrease metal parts, the chemicals leaked into the base’s wells, poisoning the drinking water.
    — WUFT News, Miami Herald, 29 July 2026
Definition of poisoning
Verb
  • No artist has had more fun subverting the conventions of the track ID than Kieran Hebden, better known as Four Tet.
    — Philip Sherburne, Pitchfork, 18 July 2026
  • There must be accountability for Supreme Court justices that have taken part in subverting American democracy.
    — Oliver Adams Larkin, Sun Sentinel, 10 July 2026
Definition of subverting
Verb
  • Guzmán pointed to Colombia’s deteriorating fiscal position as the administration’s most immediate challenge.
    — Armando Regil Velasco, FOXNews.com, 8 Aug. 2026
  • The deteriorating security situation at sea is a huge challenge for everybody in the maritime shipping community.
    — Craig Hooper, Forbes.com, 7 Aug. 2026
Definition of deteriorating
Verb
  • The Iranians are now setting the terms of this conflict and are routinely humiliating the American president.
    — Tom Nichols, The Atlantic, 8 July 2026
  • 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.
    — Jeffrey Sonnenfeld, Fortune, 24 June 2026
Definition of humiliating
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.

Browse Nearby Words

depraves
depraving
depravity
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Depraving.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/depraving. Accessed 10 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on depraving

Nglish: Translation of depraving for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is that lie 'bald-faced' or 'bold-faced'?

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

14 Phobias You Probably Haven't Heard Of

The Words of the Week - Aug. 7

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
fridge-magnet-letters
Drop a Letter Quiz August 2026 Drop a letter from a word to make a totally diffe...
See All