degrade
gb/dɪɡɹˈeɪd/ us/dɪɡɹˈeɪd/
B2
English
~ 8200
megaláz, ront, károsít, romlik, lebomlik, lebont, lefokoz
VERB
B2
1
megaláz
B2
Usage pattern:
to degrade [someone]
He constantly degraded his staff, shouting at them in front of clients.
Állandóan megalázta a beosztottait azzal, hogy az ügyfelek előtt kiabált velük.
The comments were meant to degrade her because of her appearance.
A megjegyzésekkel a külseje miatt akarták megalázni.
They complained that the prisoners were degraded and denied basic human rights.
She refused to take part in a show that degraded women.
The boss’s jokes were degrading and made the whole team uncomfortable.
Learner examples
The teacher must not degrade students in class.
A tanárnak nem szabad megaláznia a diákokat az órán.
He felt degraded when his manager yelled at him.
Megalázva érezte magát, amikor a vezetője kiabált vele.
Those words were very degrading to her.
She will not stay in a job where they degrade her.
It is wrong to degrade people because of their job.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes confuse "degrade" with "decrease" or "downgrade". "Degrade" in this sense is about hurting a person’s dignity or self-respect, not just making something lower in level or amount. Use an object that is a person, e.g. "degrade him", not "degrade his salary" (better: "reduce" or "cut his salary").
Meaning
to humiliate or demean someone
Collocations
degrade someone
|publicly degrade
|sexually degrading
|deeply degrading
|degrading treatment
|degrade herself/himself
Synonyms
humiliate (focuses strongly on making someone feel very embarrassed and ashamed, often in public)
|
demean (very close in meaning, but slightly more formal and often used for repeated or general behavior)
Antonyms
respect (means to treat someone as valuable and worthy, the opposite of lowering their dignity)
|
honor (emphasizes showing high respect and admiration instead of making someone feel low)
Themes
emotions
|social
|ethics
|relationships
Definition
to make someone feel small, ashamed, or without respect by how you treat or talk to them
To treat or speak to someone in a way that makes them feel ashamed, worthless, or without dignity.
VERB
B2
2
Usage pattern:
to degrade [something]
Constant logging has severely degraded the forest ecosystem.
A folyamatos fakitermelés súlyosan károsította az erdei ökoszisztémát.
Over time, heat and moisture can degrade the adhesive and cause the tiles to fall off.
Idővel a hő és a nedvesség gyengítheti a ragasztót, ezért a csempék leeshetnek.
Cheap cables can degrade the signal and lead to poor sound quality.
The app’s performance degraded after the last update.
Living in such degraded housing conditions is dangerous for children.
Learner examples
Strong sun can degrade the color of the paint.
Az erős napfény kifakíthatja a festék színét.
Pollution degrades the quality of the air.
A szennyezés rontja a levegő minőségét.
The battery degrades after many charges.
Bad working conditions can degrade workers’ health.
Over time, the road surface degraded and became unsafe.
Common mistake:
Learners sometimes use "degrade" when they just mean "go down" in number, for example, "Prices degraded" (incorrect). In that case, use "fell" or "went down". Use "degrade" when quality, condition, or performance becomes worse, not just the amount.
Meaning
to damage or worsen quality
Collocations
degrade the environment
|degrade soil quality
|degrade performance
|image quality degrades
|degraded conditions
|degrade the experience
Synonyms
damage (general word for harming something; does not always imply a steady or long-term reduction in quality like "degrade" can)
|
impair (more formal; often used for slowly reducing effectiveness or function)
Antonyms
improve (means to make something better in quality, the opposite of making it worse)
|
enhance (focuses on increasing quality or value rather than reducing it)
Themes
environment
|technology
|science
|core_vocabulary
Definition
to make something worse or weaker in quality, or to become worse or weaker
To make something lower in quality, value, or condition, or to become lower in quality, value, or condition.
VERB
C1
TECHNICAL
3
Usage pattern:
to degrade [material]
These bags are designed to degrade within six months in a landfill.
Ezeket a zacskókat úgy tervezték, hogy hat hónapon belül lebomoljanak a hulladéklerakóban.
Ultraviolet light can quickly degrade certain plastics.
Az ultraibolya fény bizonyos műanyagokat gyorsan lebonthat.
The enzyme rapidly degrades the toxin in the bloodstream.
Some chemicals do not degrade easily and can remain in the environment for decades.
The coating prevents the metal from degrading when exposed to salt water.
Learner examples
This kind of plastic does not degrade in the ocean.
Ez a fajta műanyag nem bomlik le az óceánban.
Bacteria help dead plants degrade into the soil.
A baktériumok segítenek abban, hogy az elhalt növények lebomoljanak a talajban.
The medicine degrades if you keep it in high heat.
Over many years, the rock slowly degrades into sand.
Light from the sun degrades the material.
Common mistake:
Learners may confuse "degrade" with "biodegrade". "Biodegrade" is specifically about breaking down by living things like bacteria, while "degrade" is more general and can include light, heat, or chemical action. Also, in technical writing, "degrade" is often intransitive ("the material degrades"), not only transitive.
Meaning
to chemically or biologically break down
Collocations
biodegrade / biodegrade slowly
|easily degraded
|degrade over time
|plastic that degrades
|sunlight degrades the material
|enzymes that degrade proteins
Synonyms
decompose (often used for natural breaking down of organic matter; slightly less technical in everyday environmental contexts)
|
break down (phrasal verb commonly used in non-technical and semi-technical talk instead of "degrade")
Antonyms
stabilize (in materials science, means to make a substance resist change instead of breaking down)
|
preserve (focuses on keeping something from changing or decaying)
Themes
science
|environment
|technology
|nature
Definition
to break or change a material into simpler parts because of chemicals, light, heat, or living things like bacteria
To be broken down, or to cause something to be broken down, into simpler substances by chemical or biological processes.
VERB
C1
FORMAL
4
lefokoz
B2
Usage pattern:
to degrade [someone] to [a lower rank]
After the scandal, the officer was formally degraded to the lowest rank.
A botrány után a tisztet hivatalosan a legalacsonyabb rendfokozatba fokozták le.
He was publicly degraded and stripped of his title.
Nyilvánosan lefokozták, és megfosztották a címétől.
Under the new rules, members found guilty of fraud can be degraded or expelled.
The committee decided not to degrade her but issued a severe warning instead.
In the ceremony, he was degraded from captain to lieutenant.
Learner examples
The soldier was degraded to private after he broke the rules.
A katonát közlegénnyé fokozták le, miután megszegte a szabályokat.
They wanted to degrade him from manager to assistant.
Le akarták fokozni vezetőből asszisztenssé.
She feared that a mistake could degrade her in the company.
The king degraded the noble and took his title.
He was degraded and lost his high position.
Common mistake:
Learners often use "degrade" instead of "demote" in modern work situations. In most everyday office contexts, "demote" is more natural: "He was demoted to assistant", not usually "degraded". "Degrade" for rank now sounds more formal or historical.
Meaning
to reduce rank or status
Collocations
degrade an officer
|degrade him to private
|degraded in rank
|ceremonially degraded
|degrade a member
|degrade her from her position
Synonyms
demote (more common in modern work and everyday contexts; sounds less formal and old-fashioned than "degrade" in this sense)
|
downgrade (used for status or importance, especially in business or technical settings, but less about official rank as punishment)
Antonyms
promote (to move someone to a higher rank or position, the direct opposite of lowering their rank)
|
elevate (more formal; to raise someone to a higher status or position)
Themes
work
|law
|military
|business
Definition
to take away someone’s level, rank, or position and give them a lower one, often as a punishment
To remove someone from a higher rank or status and place them in a lower one, especially as a punishment.
Grammar
Dictionary form
degrade
IPA
GB/dɪɡɹˈeɪd/
US/dɪɡɹˈeɪd/
Syllables & stress
de - grade (2 syllables)
Stress on 2nd syllable (grade)
Word forms
Verb
- Base: degrade
- 3rd Person Singular: degrades
- Present Participle: degrading
- Past: degraded
Word family
Forms
degrades
verb
degrading
verb
degraded
verb
Core family
degradation
noun B2
Related words
degradable
adjective
biodegrade
verb
biodegradable
adjective
Negative and opposite forms
nondegradable
adjective
Advanced or less common
degradability
noun
biodegradation
noun
Expressions
No expressions linked to this entry yet.