Debase
[dɪ'beɪs] or [dɪ'bes]
Definition
(a.) To reduce from a higher to a lower state or grade of worth, dignity, purity, station, etc.; to degrade; to lower; to deteriorate; to abase; as, to debase the character by crime; to debase the mind by frivolity; to debase style by vulgar words.
Inputed by Cole
Synonyms and Synonymous
v. a. [1]. Lower, depress, reduce, deteriorate, impair, vitiate, injure, pervert, alloy.[2]. Degrade, abase, disgrace, dishonor, humble, humiliate, shame, mortify, bring low, take down.[3]. Contaminate, taint, defile, pollute, foul, befoul, corrupt, soil.
Edited by Ellis
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Degrade, lower, depress, deprave, deteriorate, corrupt, alloy, impair,disgrace, humble
ANT:Raise, enhance, exalt, honor, promote, ameliorate, purify, improve
Checker: Lowell
Definition
v.t. to lower: to make mean or of less value: to adulterate.—adj. Debased′ degraded: (her.) reversed.—n. Debase′ment degradation.—adj. Debas′ing tending to lower or degrade.—adv. Debas′ingly.
Edited by Debra
Examples
- In Syria there were slaves in sufficient quantity to make real buildings, but the artistic spirit is as debased as anything made by machinery. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- This is simply saying that the negro mind has been more crushed and debased than the white. Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- This entertainment, which might be considered as a school of military virtue, was succeeded by a farce that debased the dignity of human nature. H. G. Wells. The Outline of History_Being a Plain History of Life and Mankind.
- But struggling with these better feelings was pride,--the vice of the lowest and most debased creatures no less than of the high and self-assured. Charles Dickens. Oliver Twist.
- This nominal sum, therefore, is necessarily higher when the coin is much debased by clipping and wearing, than when near to its standard value. Adam Smith. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations.
- And cannot the ruffian, the brutal, the debased, by slave law, own just as many slaves as the best and purest? Harriet Beecher Stowe. Uncle Tom's Cabin.
- And when I see or hear either man or woman couple shame with love, I know their minds are coarse, their associations debased. Charlotte Bronte. Shirley.
Inputed by Juana