DEGRADATION

Pronunciation (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does degradation mean? 

• DEGRADATION (noun)
  The noun DEGRADATION has 2 senses:

1. changing to a lower state (a less respected state)
2. a low or downcast state

  Familiarity information: DEGRADATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEGRADATION (noun)

Meaning:

Changing to a lower state (a less respected state)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

degradation; debasement

Hypernyms ("degradation" is a kind of...):

change of state (the act of changing something into something different in essential characteristics)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "degradation"):

dehumanisation; dehumanization (the act of degrading people with respect to their best qualities)

vulgarisation; vulgarization (the act of rendering something coarse and unrefined)

abasement; humiliation (depriving one of self-esteem)

profanation (degradation of something worthy of respect; cheapening)

popularisation; popularization; vulgarisation; vulgarization (the act of making something attractive to the general public)

constipation; deadening; impairment; stultification (the act of making something futile and useless (as by routine))

demoralisation; demoralization (destroying the moral basis for a doctrine or policy)

corruption; subversion (destroying someone's (or some group's) honesty or loyalty; undermining moral integrity)

bastardisation; bastardization (an act that debases or corrupts)

barbarisation; barbarization (an act that makes people primitive and uncivilized)

animalisation; animalization; brutalisation; brutalization (an act that makes people cruel or lacking normal human qualities)

Meaning:

A low or downcast state

Classified under:

Nouns denoting stable states of affairs

Synonyms:

abasement; abjection; degradation

Context example:

each confession brought her into an attitude of abasement

Hypernyms ("degradation" is a kind of...):

humiliation (state of disgrace or loss of self-respect)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "degradation"):

decadence; decadency; degeneracy; degeneration (the state of being degenerate in mental or moral qualities)

depth ((usually plural) a low moral state)