degrade
/dɪˈɡreɪd/
verb
- To treat someone without respect, making them feel ashamed or less valuable.
- She felt that the reality show degraded its contestants by making them compete in humiliating challenges.
- The boss would often degrade his employees by yelling at them in front of others.
- No one should degrade another person because of their background or beliefs.
- To reduce the quality, value, or strength of something.
- The company's reputation was degraded by the scandal.
- Constant exposure to sunlight can degrade the color of your curtains.
- Overfishing has degraded the health of the ocean ecosystem.
- To break down or change into a simpler form, especially in chemistry or biology.
- Certain plastics can take hundreds of years to degrade naturally.
- Bacteria help degrade dead plants and animals in the soil.
- The enzyme helps degrade lactose into simpler sugars.
Synonyms