Meanings
present singular third person degrades · participle present degrading · participle past degraded · past degraded
- transitiveTo lower in value or social position.
Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.
1 more example
[…] [William] Prynne was sentenced by the Star-Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar, to stand in pillory at two places in London and lose an ear at each, to be branded on the forehead, to pay a fine of five thousand pounds, and to be imprisoned for life.
1858, John Gorham Palfrey, chapter XIV, in History of New England during the Stuart Dynasty. […], volume I, Boston, Mass.: Little, Brown, and Company, →OCLC, book I, pages 563–564Synonyms: abase, debase, demean, abase, avile, debase, debauch, depreciate
- ergativeintransitiveTo reduce in quality or purity.
The DNA sample has degraded.
- transitivegeographyTo reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo lower in value or social position.
More synonyms by meaning
verbreduce in worth or character, usually verbally
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Middle Frenchdégrader
- Englishdegrade
From Middle French dégrader.
More words from Middle French
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic تَرَدَّى
- تَرَدَّى (taraddā)to reduce in quality or purity
Bulgarian понижавам, разжалвам
- понижавам (ponižavam)to lower in value or social position
- разжалвам (razžalvam)to lower in value or social position
- упадам (upadam)to reduce in quality or purity
- деградирам (degradiram)to reduce in quality or purity
- разлагам се (razlagam se)to reduce in quality or purity
Catalan degradar, degradar
- degradarto lower in value or social position
- degradarto reduce in quality or purity
Czech degradovat, znehodnotit
- degradovatto lower in value or social position
- znehodnotitto reduce in quality or purity
Dutch degraderen, aftakelen
- degraderento reduce in quality or purity
- aftakelento reduce in quality or purity
- vervallento reduce in quality or purity
Finnish alentaa, heikentää
- alentaato lower in value or social position
- heikentääto reduce in quality or purity
- alentaato reduce in quality or purity
German degradieren, herabstufen
- degradierento lower in value or social position
- herabstufento lower in value or social position
- herunterstufento lower in value or social position
- herabsetzento lower in value or social position
- vermindernto reduce in quality or purity
- abbauento reduce in quality or purity
- erodierento reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down
Hungarian lealacsonyít, degradál
- lealacsonyítto lower in value or social position
- degradálto lower in value or social position
- lealacsonyodikto reduce in quality or purity
- degradálódikto reduce in quality or purity
- bomlikto reduce in quality or purity
- elbomlikto reduce in quality or purity
- lebomlikto reduce in quality or purity
- erodálódikto reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down
- elkopikto reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down
Irish ísligh
- íslighto lower in value or social position
Italian degradare, degradarsi
- degradareto lower in value or social position
- degradarsito reduce in quality or purity
Latin obterō
- obterōto lower in value or social position
Māori whakapāpaku
- whakapāpakuto lower in value or social position
Portuguese degradar, degradar
- degradarto lower in value or social position
- degradarto reduce in quality or purity
- erodirto reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down
- desgastarto reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down
Spanish degradar, degradar
- degradarto lower in value or social position
- degradarto reduce in quality or purity
Swedish degradera, nedvärdera
- degraderato lower in value or social position
- nedvärderato lower in value or social position
Welsh diraddio, diraddio
- diraddioto lower in value or social position
- diraddioto reduce in quality or purity
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with degrade
Cite this entry
degrade. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degrade
“degrade.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degrade. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “degrade,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/degrade.
Source: degrade on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.