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

{
babies . . . degrade one to the state of anxious, fawning suppliants for a smile— Wallace
}

{
turkeys not in prime condition are degraded on the market
}

{
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
}

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)

{
ridiculed and degraded for his ideas, he maintained his integrity in the prison cell— D. M. Wolfe & E. M. Geyer
}

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

It sometimes denotes a formal or ceremonial stripping (as of a priest or a military officer) of outward evidences of station or rank

{
Dreyfus is degraded before the Army, January 5, 1895— Guérard
}

Demote in itself and as distinct from its context does not imply fault to or humiliation of the one demoted

{
he returns a captain (temporary), is promoted and demoted in the same order, made first lieutenant (permanent)— Mailer
}

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

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

{
a sergeant reduced to the ranks
}

{
people in reduced circumstances
}

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

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

{
even today a woman may declass herself by acts tolerated of her brothers
}

Perhaps more frequently it may imply an altering of or a freeing from the restrictions of social status

{
the growing masses of modern society that stand outside all class-strata. These declassed groups, composed ... of individuals from all strata of society— Arendt
}

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

{
members of the declassed intelligentsia— Ridgely Cummings
}

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

{
the witness had been chief mate . . . but had been disrated ... for drunkenness— Mercantile Marine Mag.
}

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

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Synonyms:

Disgrace, dishonor, discredit, break, cashier, humiliate, humble, depose, reduce to inferior rank / Lower, sink, deteriorate, impair, injure, debase, vitiate, pervert, alloy

Look at other dictionaries:

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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