degrade

degrade — verb

1. to damage someone's sense of worth and dignity by treating them badly or disresp

1.verbtransitiveB2
Definition

to damage someone's sense of worth and dignity by treating them badly or disrespectfully.

Example

Ezra felt degraded when his boss spoke rudely to him in front of everyone.

common pattern: feel degraded by [someone]

Those cruel jokes about her accent degraded Renata in front of the whole class.

Common collocations
  • feel degraded
  • degrade yourself
  • degrade someone in front of
  • degrade + staff/employees/students
Synonyms
  • humiliate

    stronger than degrade; focuses on public embarrassment and loss of pride

  • demean

    more formal than degrade; suggests lowering someone's status or worth

  • belittle

    refers specifically to making someone or their achievements seem unimportant, often through words

Antonyms
  • dignify

    to give worth or honour to someone

  • respect

    to treat someone with admiration and consideration

Grammar Patterns

degrade + someone / degrade + oneself

be degraded by + someone

feel degraded

Usage Note

Often used in the passive voice ('be degraded') or as a past-participle adjective ('felt degraded'). Can also be reflexive: 'degrade yourself' means to do something that lowers your own dignity.

Common Mistakes

The movie degraded to a silly comedy.
The movie descended to a silly comedy.
'degrade' is not used for a change in quality of art; use 'decline' or 'descend' instead.
He degraded her by giving her a small gift.
He degraded her by shouting at her in public.
'degrade' requires a serious loss of dignity, not a mild disappointment.

2. to damage the look, standard, or condition of something so that it becomes notic

2.verbtransitiveB1
Definition

to damage the look, standard, or condition of something so that it becomes noticeably less attractive or less good.

Example

The old factory degraded the quality of the river water for miles downstream.

collocation: degrade + quality of [something]

Years of direct sunlight degraded the red paint on Sari's front door.

Common collocations
  • degrade the quality
  • degrade the beauty
  • degrade the appearance
  • degrade the environment
Synonyms
  • spoil

    more general and less formal; can describe any kind of damage or ruin

  • damage

    broader than degrade; can describe harm from a single event

  • tarnish

    usually refers to metal surfaces losing shine, or metaphorically to reputation

Antonyms
  • enhance

    to improve the quality, value, or appearance of something

  • preserve

    to keep something in its original good condition

Grammar Patterns

degrade + something

degrade + the quality/beauty of + something

Usage Note

Describes gradual damage that worsens appearance or quality over time, rather than sudden or complete destruction. The agent (what causes the damage) is often a natural force or environmental condition.

Common Mistakes

He degraded his phone by dropping it once.
He broke his phone by dropping it once.
'degrade' implies gradual worsening, not a single damaging event.

3. to damage the strength, influence, or effectiveness of a group or system by stea

3.verbtransitiveC1
Definition

to damage the strength, influence, or effectiveness of a group or system by steadily applying pressure or criticism.

Example

Repeated budget cuts degraded the hospital's ability to care for patients properly.

collocation: degrade + ability / degrade + effectiveness

The leader's pattern of lies degraded public trust in the government over several years.

Common collocations
  • degrade public trust
  • degrade morale
  • degrade an institution
  • degrade effectiveness
Synonyms
  • undermine

    similar to degrade but often suggests a more subtle or hidden process of weakening

  • erode

    metaphorical use; suggests a slow wearing away of trust or authority

  • weaken

    more general and neutral; can apply to many kinds of structures

Antonyms
  • strengthen

    to make an organization or system more powerful or effective

  • bolster

    to support or reinforce something that is under threat

Grammar Patterns

degrade + an organization/system/institution

degrade + trust/confidence/morale

Usage Note

Subject is typically an external force such as budget cuts, scandals, poor decisions, or repeated criticism. Unlike sense 1, the target here is an institution or system rather than a person's dignity.

Common Mistakes

The bad weather degraded the school.
The funding cuts degraded the school's ability to teach.
'degrade' in this sense works best with a specific capability or quality, not the entity itself.
His one mistake degraded the whole department.
His many mistakes gradually degraded the department's reputation.
This sense implies a gradual process, not a single event.

4. to reduce the working ability, signal strength, or output level of an electronic

4.verbtransitive / intransitiveC1
Definition

to reduce the working ability, signal strength, or output level of an electronic device, computer network, or system, or to become reduced in this way on its own.

Example

Running too many programs at once can degrade the computer's overall performance.

collocation: degrade + performance

The phone signal degraded as Hyun drove through the mountain tunnel.

Common collocations
  • degrade performance
  • degrade signal
  • degrade sound quality
  • degrade speed
Synonyms
  • impair

    more formal; suggests damage that reduces function or quality

  • reduce

    more general; does not imply a negative consequence as strongly

  • downgrade

    specifically about reducing to a lower version or standard, common in software

Antonyms
  • boost

    to increase the performance or strength of a signal

  • enhance

    to improve the quality or capability of a system

Grammar Patterns

degrade + performance/signal/quality

something degrades (intransitive)

Usage Note

Can be used both transitively ('the heat degraded the signal') and intransitively ('the signal degraded'). Common in computing, telecommunications, and electronics contexts. Often describes a gradual reduction rather than sudden failure.

Common Mistakes

The software degraded to version 2.0.
The software was downgraded to version 2.0.
For version changes, use 'downgrade', not 'degrade'.

5. when a material breaks down into smaller chemical parts, either on its own or wh

5.verbtransitive / intransitiveB2
Definition

when a material breaks down into smaller chemical parts, either on its own or when exposed to conditions such as light, heat, or moisture.

Example

The plastic bottle will degrade naturally in the soil after about fifty years.

intransitive: degrade naturally / degrade in [condition]

Sunlight helps degrade the chemicals found in some industrial cleaning products.

Common collocations
  • degrade naturally
  • degrade into
  • degrade over time
  • biologically degrade
Synonyms
  • decompose

    very similar to degrade; more common for organic matter and biological processes

  • break down

    less formal than degrade; interchangeable in most scientific contexts

  • decay

    suggests a natural, gradual process of rotting or falling apart

Antonyms
  • synthesize

    to build up a complex chemical compound from simpler parts

  • form

    to create or compose a substance from elements or compounds

Grammar Patterns

a substance degrades (intransitive)

something degrades a substance

degrade + into + simpler parts

Usage Note

Common in environmental science, biology, and chemistry. Frequently used in the passive form ('is degraded by enzymes'). The intransitive form describes a natural process without an outside cause.

Common Mistakes

The food degraded in the fridge.
The food decomposed in the fridge.
For food going bad, 'decompose' or 'rot' is more natural. 'Degrade' is more technical, used for chemical structure change.

6. to move to a lower path around a planet or star as time passes, usually because

6.verbintransitiveC2
Definition

to move to a lower path around a planet or star as time passes, usually because of friction from the atmosphere or the pull of gravity.

Example

The satellite's orbit degraded slowly until the spacecraft burned up in the atmosphere.

Without regular engine burns, the station's orbit degrades by roughly two kilometres each month.

subject: orbit + degrades + measure phrase

Common collocations
  • orbit degrades
  • altitude degrades
  • degrade over time
  • degrade by + distance
Synonyms
  • decay

    interchangeable in aerospace contexts; 'orbital decay' is the standard term

  • drop

    less formal; describes the result without implying the physical mechanism

  • lower

    simple description of the altitude change, but not a technical synonym

Antonyms
  • raise

    to increase orbital altitude, usually by firing thrusters

  • boost

    to increase the orbit's altitude using engine power

Grammar Patterns

orbit / altitude + degrades

an orbit degrades over time

Usage Note

Almost exclusively intransitive in this sense. The subject is an orbit, altitude, or trajectory. Used only in aerospace contexts. The related noun form 'orbital degradation' is more common in technical writing.

Common Mistakes

The rocket degraded its path.
The rocket's path degraded as it lost speed.
This sense is intransitive; the orbit degrades on its own, not something you do to it.

Word family

  • degradation
    nounC1
  • degrading
    adjectiveB2
  • degraded
    adjectiveB2
  • degradable
    adjectiveC1
  • biodegradable
    adjectiveB2

Synonym discussion

Sense: verb/1

All four words describe lowering someone's status or worth, but they differ in intensity and context. 'Humiliate' is the strongest — it focuses on public embarrassment and a painful loss of pride ('The teacher humiliated the student in front of the whole class'). 'Demean' is more formal and can apply to actions or words; it suggests lowering someone's dignity through treatment that makes them seem less important ('It demeans the staff when their opinions are ignored'). 'Belittle' is the mildest; it refers specifically to making someone or their achievements feel small through words or attitudes ('He belittled her efforts by calling them trivial'). 'Debase' is the most intense and often implies moral corruption or a severe decline in quality or character ('The reality show debased public taste'). For everyday situations where someone is made to feel worthless or disrespected, 'degrade' or 'humiliate' are the most common choices.

humiliate ↗demean ↗belittledebase

Common collocations

Nouns

  • quality degrades
  • performance degrades
  • signal degrades
  • orbit degrades
  • trust degrades

Adverbs

  • gradually degrade
  • slowly degrade
  • further degrade
  • steadily degrade

Phrases

  • degrade over time
  • begin to degrade
  • cause something to degrade
  • continue to degrade

Prepositions

  • degrade into
  • degrade by
  • degrade over time

Etymology

LatinOld FrenchEnglish

The word 'degrade' entered English in the late 1400s from Old French 'degrader', which came from Latin 'degradare', formed from the prefix 'de-' (meaning 'down, away') and 'gradus' (meaning 'step, rank, degree'). Its original meaning was 'to step down' or 'to lower in rank', which later broadened to include lowering in quality, dignity, or chemical complexity.