debase
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/icons/point.icon DEBASE, VITIATE, DEPRAVE, CORRUPT, DEBAUCH, PERVERT mean to cause deterioration or lowering in quality or character.
DEBASE implies a loss of position, worth, value, or dignity.
e.g. commercialism has debased the holiday
VITIATE implies a destruction of purity, validity, or effectiveness by allowing entrance of a fault or defect.
e.g. a foreign policy vitiated by partisanship
DEPRAVE implies moral deterioration by evil thoughts or influences.
e.g. the claim that society is depraved by pornography
CORRUPT implies loss of soundness, purity, or integrity.
e.g. the belief that bureaucratese corrupts the language
DEBAUCH implies a debasing through sensual indulgence.
e.g. the long stay on a tropical isle had debauched the ship's crew
PERVERT implies a twisting or distorting from what is natural or normal.
e.g. perverted the original goals of the institute
verb with object
1. reduce (something) in quality or value; degrade:
｟かたく｠ 〈質･価値〉を落とす
e.g. the love episodes debase the dignity of the drama.
lower the moral character of (someone):
〖～ oneself〗 〈人が〉品格を落とす, 品のない行動をとる
e.g. war debases people.
2. historical lower the value of (coinage) by reducing the content of precious metal:
〈貨幣〉の質を落とす
e.g. the King was forced to debase the coinage.
DERIVATIVES
debaser |dəˈbāsər| noun
ORIGIN
mid 16th century (in the sense ‘humiliate, belittle’): from de- ‘down’ + the obsolete verb base (compare with abase), expressing the notion ‘bring down completely’.