bastardise
/ˈbæstə(ɹ)daɪz/
bastardise is the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of bastardize.
Meaning of bastardize
Verb
bastardize (third-person singular simple present bastardizes, present participle bastardizing, simple past and past participle bastardized)
- To claim or demonstrate that someone is a bastard, or illegitimate.
- Our law is so indulgent as not to bastardize the child, if it be born, though not begotten, in lawful wedlock.1765–1769, William Blackstone, Commentaries on the Laws of England, (please specify |book=I to IV), Oxford, Oxfordshire: […] Clarendon Press, →OCLC
- To reduce from a higher to a lower state, such as by removing refined elements or introducing debased elements; to debase.
- The simplified word processor is a less-functional, bastardized version of the full program.
- Synonyms:
- butcher, debase, mongrelize, sophisticate, abase, adulter, adulterate, adulterize, alloy, balderdash
- To beget out of wedlock.
- I should / have been that I am, had the maidenliest star in the / firmament twinkled on my bastardizing.c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, King Lear, act 1, scene 2, lines 130–132
Forms of bastardise
| third-person singular present | bastardises |
|---|---|
| present participle | bastardising |
| past participle | bastardised |
| past | bastardised |
Origin of bastardise
From bastard + -ise.
Words formed from bastardise
Questions about bastardise
- What is bastardise the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of?
- Bastardise is the non-Oxford British English standard spelling of bastardize.
- How do you pronounce bastardise?
- Bastardise is pronounced /ˈbæstə(ɹ)daɪz/.
Words near bastardise in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: bastardise (page history and authors); bastardize (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-bastardise.wav.
Cite this entry: “bastardise.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/bastardise. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.
