Word.ws English Dictionary

Synonyms of demean

36 similar words · 2 opposite words

Another word for demean is shame. Other synonyms of demean are discredit, disgrace, reduce, humble and humiliate. The opposite of demean is glorify.

Synonyms and similar words for demean

verbTo debase; to lower; to degrade.

  • discreditTo harm the good reputation of (a person).
  • humiliateTo cause to be ashamed; to injure the dignity and self-respect of.
  • slurTo soil; to sully; to contaminate; to disgrace.

verbTo humble; to humiliate.

  • bring low
  • embarrassTo disrupt someone's composure or comfort with acting publicly or freely.
  • mortifyTo injure the dignity of; to embarrass; to humiliate.
  • abaseTo lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to...
  • abash
  • confuse
  • confound
  • debaseTo lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
  • degradeTo lower in value or social position.
  • depressTo bring down or humble; to abase (pride, etc.).
  • disconcert
  • discomfitTo embarrass (someone) greatly; to confuse; to perplex; to disconcert.
  • dishonourTo bring disgrace upon someone or something; to shame.
  • humbleTo defeat or reduce the power, independence, or pride of.
  • lower
  • put to shame
  • shameTo cause to feel shame.

verbMore synonyms

  • bring down to sizeSynonym of cut down to size.
  • cut down to size
  • defameTo disgrace; to bring into disrepute.
  • demoteTo lower the rank or status of.
  • disgraceTo put someone or something out of favor; to bring shame or ignominy upon.
  • disparageTo dishonor by a comparison with what is inferior; to lower in rank or estimation by actions or words; to speak...
  • downgradeTo disparage.
  • give a bad nameTo cause people to lose respect, reverence or esteem for something or someone.
  • knock down to sizeSynonym of cut down to size.
  • put someone in their placeTo bring somebody down; to humble or rebuke.
  • reduceTo bring to an inferior rank; to degrade, to demote.
  • relegateConsign (a person or thing) to a place, position, or role of obscurity, insignificance, oblivion, lower rank or...
  • sink figurativelyTo cause to decline; to depress or degrade.
  • trim down to sizeSynonym of cut down to size.
  • whittle down to sizeSynonym of cut down to size.
  • embase archaicTo bring down or lower in position, status, etc.; to degrade, humiliate.

Opposite of demean

verbMore antonyms

Meaning of demean

  1. verb To debase; to lower; to degrade.
  2. verb To humble; to humiliate.
  3. verb To mortify.

Full definition of demean

demean in other languages

Questions about synonyms of demean

What is another word for demean?
Demean has 36 synonyms on Word.ws, such as shame, discredit, disgrace, reduce, humble, humiliate, embarrass and degrade.
What is the opposite of demean?
The opposite of demean is glorify.
What does demean mean?
Demean means to debase; to lower; to degrade.

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: demean (page history and authors) and the entries of the words listed. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws grouped the synonyms and antonyms by meaning and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Cite this page: “Synonyms of demean.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/synonyms/demean. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.