degrade

degrade
degrade 1 Degrade, demote, reduce, declass, disrate mean to lower in station, rank, or grade.
Degrade may be used of any such lowering
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babies . . . degrade one to the state of anxious, fawning suppliants for a smile— Wallace

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turkeys not in prime condition are degraded on the market

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that the Duke of York should have concurred in the design of degrading that crown which it was probable that he would himself . . . wear— Macaulay

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It usually implies a real or presumed fault in what is acted on and often adds to the basic meaning a suggestion of humiliation (see degrade under ABASE)
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ridiculed and degraded for his ideas, he maintained his integrity in the prison cell— D. M. Wolfe & E. M. Geyer

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the world is weary of statesmen whom democracy has degraded into politicians— Disraeli

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It sometimes denotes a formal or ceremonial stripping (as of a priest or a military officer) of outward evidences of station or rank
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Dreyfus is degraded before the Army, January 5, 1895— Guérard

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Demote in itself and as distinct from its context does not imply fault to or humiliation of the one demoted
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he returns a captain (temporary), is promoted and demoted in the same order, made first lieutenant (permanent)— Mailer

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the secretaryship was demoted to a subordinate bureau in the Department of the Interior— Neill

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Reduce (see also DECREASE and CONQUER) never wholly loses its basic sense of to make less or smaller; it denotes a lessening in status or dignity whether involving an actual lowering in rank or not
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a sergeant reduced to the ranks

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people in reduced circumstances

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an old crusader . . . reduced to menial work— Costain

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Declass is typically used with respect to social classes; it may imply a loss of social position especially as a result of one's own actions
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even today a woman may declass herself by acts tolerated of her brothers

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Perhaps more frequently it may imply an altering of or a freeing from the restrictions of social status
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the growing masses of modern society that stand outside all class-strata. These declassed groups, composed ... of individuals from all strata of society— Arendt

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a younger generation which feels that the writer ought to be at least a spiritual vagabond, a declassed mind— The Dial

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members of the declassed intelligentsia— Ridgely Cummings

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Disrate implies a reduction in military and more especially in naval or nautical rank and is used chiefly with reference to petty or noncommissioned officers
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the witness had been chief mate . . . but had been disrated ... for drunkenness— Mercantile Marine Mag.

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Analogous words: humble, humiliate, *abase, debase: disbar, rule out (see EXCLUDE)
Antonyms: elevate
2 debase, demean, humble, *abase, humiliate
Analogous words: *debase, deprave, debauch, pervert, corrupt, vitiate
Antonyms: uplift
Contrasted words: *exalt, magnify, aggrandize

New Dictionary of Synonyms. 2014.

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  • dégradé — [ degrade ] n. m. • XIVe; de 2. dégrader 1 ♦ Affaiblissement ou modification progressive d une couleur, d un éclairage. Des effets de dégradé. ♢ (XXe) Cin. Procédé par lequel on fait varier l intensité lumineuse de l image. 2 ♦ Technique de coupe …   Encyclopédie Universelle

  • degrade — DEGRADÉ, degradeuri, s.n. Descreştere treptată a intensităţii unei culori. ♦ (Adjectival) Aţă degrade. [var.: degradéu s.n.] – Din fr. dégradé. Trimis de dante, 14.07.2004. Sursa: DEX 98  degradé s. n., pl. degradéuri Trimis de siveco,… …   Dicționar Român

  • Degrade — Dégradé Cette page d’homonymie répertorie les différents sujets et articles partageant un même nom …   Wikipédia en Français

  • dégradé — dégradé, ée 1. (dé gra dé, dée) part. passé de dégrader1. 1°   Qui a perdu d une manière infamante son grade, son rang. Un officier dégradé. 2°   Qui a perdu son rang, sa dignité. •   Trois princes dégradés en un même mois en marquent le… …   Dictionnaire de la Langue Française d'Émile Littré

  • Degrade — De*grade , v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Degraded}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Degrading}.] [F. d[ e]grader, LL. degradare, fr. L. de + gradus step, degree. See {Grade}, and cf. {Degree}.] 1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • degrade — UK US /dɪˈgreɪd/ verb [I or T] ► to become worse in quality, or to make something worse: »Unlike with a cassette player, the sound of the MP3 Player doesn t degrade as the battery weakens …   Financial and business terms

  • degrade — late 14c., from O.Fr. degrader (12c.) degrade, deprive (of office, rank, etc.), from des down (see DIS (Cf. dis )) + L. gradus step (see GRADE (Cf. grade)). Related: Degraded; degrading …   Etymology dictionary

  • degrade — [dē grād′, digrād′] vt. degraded, degrading [ME degraden < OFr degrader < LL degradare, to reduce in rank < L de , down + gradus: see DE & GRADE] 1. to lower in rank or status, as in punishing; demote 2. to lower or corrupt in quality,… …   English World dictionary

  • Degrade — De*grade , v. i. (Biol.) To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as, a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera. [1913 Webster] …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • degrade — index abuse (violate), adulterate, contaminate, damage, debase, debauch, decry, defame …   Law dictionary

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