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   degrade

   /dɪˈɡreɪd/

   verb

   • 1. treat or regard (someone) with contempt or disrespect: "she thought that many supposedly erotic pictures degraded women" Similar demeandebasecheapendevalueprostitutelower the status ofreduceshamehumiliatebring shame tohumblemortifyabasedisgracedishonourdesensitizedehumanizebrutalizeOpposite dignifyennoble
   • ▪ lower the quality of; cause to deteriorate: "vast areas of natural habitats have been degraded"
   • ▪ reduce (someone) to a lower rank, especially as a punishment: archaic "he was degraded from his high estate"
   • 2. break down or deteriorate chemically: "the bacteria will degrade hydrocarbons" Similar break downdeterioratedegeneratedecayatrophy
   • ▪ reduce (energy) to a less readily convertible form.
   • ▪ wear down (rock) and cause it to disintegrate.

   Word Origin late Middle English: from Old French degrader, from ecclesiastical Latin degradare, from de- ‘down, away from’ + Latin gradus ‘step or grade’.

   Derivatives

   • 1. degradability noun
   • 2. degradable adjective
   • 3. degradative adjective
   • 4. degrader noun

   Scrabble Points: 10

   • D

     2

   • E

     1

   • G

     2

   • R

     1

   • A

     1

   • D

     2

   • E

     1

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