debase
verb /dɪˈbeɪs/
/dɪˈbeɪs/
Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they debase | /dɪˈbeɪs/ /dɪˈbeɪs/ |
| he / she / it debases | /dɪˈbeɪsɪz/ /dɪˈbeɪsɪz/ |
| past simple debased | /dɪˈbeɪst/ /dɪˈbeɪst/ |
| past participle debased | /dɪˈbeɪst/ /dɪˈbeɪst/ |
| -ing form debasing | /dɪˈbeɪsɪŋ/ /dɪˈbeɪsɪŋ/ |
- debase somebody/something to make somebody/something less valuable or respected synonym devalue
- Sport is being debased by commercial sponsorship.
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘humiliate, belittle’): from de- ‘down’ + the obsolete verb base (compare with abase), expressing the notion ‘bring down completely’.