debase
/dɪˈbeɪs/
debase verb: to lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
Verb
debase (third-person singular simple present debases, present participle debasing, simple past and past participle debased)
- To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
- And just as history will decide whether the leaders of today's world employed the atom to destroy the world or rebuild it for mankind's benefit, so will history decide whether today's broadcasters employed their powerful voice to enrich the people or to debase them.1961 May 9, Newton N. Minow, Television and the Public Interest
- Synonyms:
- abase, adulterate, degrade, demean, debauch
- To lower in position or rank.
- Synonyms:
- cut down to size, demote, humble, abase, bring down to size, defame, degrade, demean, depress, discredit
- To lower the value of (a currency) by reducing the amount of valuable metal in the coins.
- Synonyms:
- adulter, alloy, embase, abase, adulterate, adulterize, balderdash, corrupt, bastardize, dash
debase meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
debase in Tamil
- கலப்படம் செய், தரம், மதிப்பு, முக்கியத்துவம் முதலியவற்றைக் குறை, இழிவு படுத்து
debase in Urdu
- بےقدر کرنا, کھوٹا بنانا, پست کرنا
debase in Bengali
- মান নামিয়ে দেওয়া, অধঃপতিত করা, কোনো কিছুর মান, মর্যাদা, মূল্য কমিয়ে দেওয়া
debase in Malayalam
- തരംതാഴ്ത്തുക, താഴ്ത്തിക്കെട്ടുക, അപമാനിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- debase in Kannada
- ಕೀಳುಗಳೆ, ಕೀಳುಮಾಡು, ಗುಣಮಟ್ಟ ಇಳಿಸು, ಕೀಳ್ಮಾಡು
Synonyms of debase
30 more synonymsFewer synonyms
- depress
- discredit
- disgrace
- dishonour
- disparage
- downgrade
- give a bad name
- humiliate
- knock down to size
- put someone in their place
- reduce
- relegate
- sink
- slur
- trim down to size
- whittle down to size
- adulter
- alloy
- embase
- adulterize
- corrupt
- bastardize
- dilute
- sophisticate
- depreciate
- devalue
- devaluate
- dirty
- vitiate
- balderdash
Antonyms
Forms of debase
| third-person singular present | debases |
|---|---|
| present participle | debasing |
| past participle | debased |
| past | debased |
Origin of debase
From de- + base, from Old French bas, from Latin bassus. Cognate with Spanish debajo (“under, beneath, below”). Compare abase.
Words formed from debase
Words that rhyme with debase
45 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- embrace
- lace
- replace
- mace
- displace
- bass
- efface
- plaice
- disgrace
- pes
- abase
- deface
- interlace
- misplace
- retrace
- white space
- bouillabaisse
- dace
- enlace
- grimace
- nominative case
- red in the face
- -ase
- abaisse
- acoustic bass
- aggrace
- Alsace
- apace
- artspace
- encase
- gather pace
- Harbour Grace
- Havre de Grace
- heart of grace
- into space
- Jace
- Jase
- laisse
- misgrace
- Naas
- outpace
- reys
- supplace
- Thrace
- torace
Questions about debase
- What does debase mean?
- Debase means to lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
- What is debase in Tamil?
- Debase in Tamil is கலப்படம் செய், தரம், மதிப்பு. See Debase meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is debase?
- Debase is a verb.
- How do you pronounce debase?
- Debase is pronounced /dɪˈbeɪs/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of debase?
- The past tense of debase is debased.
Words near debase in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: debase (page history and authors); debase (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); debase (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Debase (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); debase (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); debase (Kannada Wiktionary) (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-debase.wav.
Cite this entry: “debase.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/debase. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.