4 entries found for degrading.
de·grad·ing ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-grdng)
adj.
Tending or intended to degrade: ?There is nothing so degrading as the constant anxiety about one's means of livelihood? (W. Somerset Maugham).
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
de·grading·ly adv.
[Download or Buy Now]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
de·grade ( P ) Pronunciation Key (d-grd)
v. de·grad·ed, de·grad·ing, de·grades
v. tr.
To reduce in grade, rank, or status; demote.
To lower in dignity; dishonor or disgrace: a scandal that degraded the participants.
To lower in moral or intellectual character; debase.
To reduce in worth or value: degrade a currency.
To impair in physical structure or function.
Geology. To lower or wear by erosion or weathering.
To cause (an organic compound) to undergo degradation.
v. intr.
To fall below a normal state; deteriorate.
To undergo degradation; decompose: a chemical that degrades rapidly.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Middle English degraden, from Old French degrader, from Late Latin dgradre : Latin d-, de- + Latin gradus, step; see ghredh- in Indo-European Roots.]
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
de·grader n.
Synonyms: degrade, abase, debase, demean, 2humble, humiliate
These verbs mean to deprive of self-esteem or self-worth. Degrade implies reduction to a state of shame or disgrace: ?If I pitied you for crying... you should spurn such pity.... Rise, and don't degrade yourself into an abject reptile!? (Emily Brontë). Abase refers principally to loss of rank or prestige: ?Meg pardoned him, and Mrs. March's grave face relaxed... when she heard him declare that he would... abase himself like a worm before the injured damsel? (Louisa May Alcott). Debase implies reduction in quality or value: ?debasing the moral currency? (George Eliot). Demean suggests lowering in social position: ?It puts him where he can make the advances without demeaning himself? (William Dean Howells). Humble can refer to lowering in rank or, more often, to reducing in pride: dreamed of humbling his opponent. To humiliate is to subject to loss of self-respect or dignity: a defeat that humiliated both army and nation. See also synonyms at demote
[Download or Buy Now]
Source: The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
degrading
Degrade \De*grade"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Degraded; p. pr. & vb. n. Degrading.] [F. d['e]grader, LL. degradare, fr. L. de- + gradus step, degree. See Grade, and cf. Degree.] 1. To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to deprive of office or dignity; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer.
Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar. --Palfrey.
2. To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man.
O miserable mankind, to what fall Degraded, to what wretched state reserved! --Milton.
Yet time ennobles or degrades each line. --Pope.
Her pride . . . struggled hard against this degrading passion. --Macaulay.
3. (Geol.) To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.
Syn: To abase; demean; lower; reduce. See Abase.
[Free Trial - Merriam-Webster Unabridged.]
Source: Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
degrading
adj 1: harmful to the mind or morals; "corrupt judges and their corrupting influence"; "the vicious and degrading cult of violence" [syn: corrupting] 2: used of conduct; characterized by dishonor [syn: debasing]
Source: WordNet ® 2.0, © 2003 Princeton University
