degrade
/dɪˈɡɹeɪd/US/dɪˈɡɹeɪd/
degrade verb: to lower in value or social position.
Verb
degrade (third-person singular simple present degrades, present participle degrading, simple past and past participle degraded)
- To lower in value or social position.
- Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.
- […] [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 563–564
- To reduce in quality or purity.
- The DNA sample has degraded.
- To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.
degrade meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
degrade in Tamil
- இழிவு படுத்து, தரங்குறை, தரம் தாழ்த்து, தாழ்த்து, நிலை தாழ்த்து, சிதை
degrade in Urdu
- بگاڑنا, درجہ کم کرنا, حقیر کرنا, عہدہ گھٹانا, ساقط کرنا, تذلیل کرنا
degrade in Bengali
- মান নামানো, মর্যাদাহানি করা
degrade in Malayalam
- തരംതാഴ്ത്തുക, അപമാനിക്കുക, വില കുറയ്ക്കുക, നിസ്സാരമാക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- degrade in Kannada
- ಮಟ್ಟ ಕೆಳಗಾಗು, ಮುದಿಪು ಕೆಡು, ಇಳಿಕೆಯ್, ಇಳಿಕಯ್
- degrade in Sanskrit
- भ्रंशते bhraṃśate
- degrade in Nepali
- अधोगति गर्न
- degrade in Arabic
- تَرَدَّى taraddā
Examples of degrade in a sentence
- There are some cases where hyperthreading actually degrades CPU performance, especially when CPU utilization is high.
- A system that degrades but coheres is a far better place to live than a system that completely collapses.
- This constitutes a grave threat to the American Republic and degrades it into an Ochlocracy, or government by mob rule.
Synonyms of degrade
23 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of degrade
| third-person singular present | degrades |
|---|---|
| present participle | degrading |
| past participle | degraded |
| past | degraded |
Origin of degrade
From Middle French dégrader.
Words formed from degrade
Words that rhyme with degrade
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- abraid
- blockade
- cade
- fade
- glade
- raid
- upbraid
- abrade
- crusade
- esplanade
- invade
- lade
- unlaid
- upgrade
- brigade
- brocade
- cavalcade
- colonnade
- displayed
- glissade
- grenade
- paid
- palisade
- unlade
- afraid
- ambuscade
- arcade
- corrade
- enfilade
- evade
- jade
- lemonade
- made
- maid
- persuade
- pomade
- spade
- unmade
- aide
- cannonade
- carbonade
- carronade
- clade
- cockade
- Dade
- decayed
- dragonnade
- embayed
Questions about degrade
- What does degrade mean?
- Degrade means to lower in value or social position.
- What is degrade in Tamil?
- Degrade in Tamil is இழிவு படுத்து, தரங்குறை, தரம் தாழ்த்து. See Degrade meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is degrade?
- Degrade is a verb.
- How do you pronounce degrade?
- Degrade is pronounced /dɪˈɡɹeɪd/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of degrade?
- The past tense of degrade is degraded.
Words near degrade in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: degrade (page history and authors); degrade (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); degrade (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Degrade (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); degrade (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); degrade (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); degrade (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). 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-degrade.wav.
Cite this entry: “degrade.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/degrade. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.