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degradation

degradation

16 6.3
A state when someone feels ashamed and loses respect from others
  • noun
  • /ˌdɛɡrəˈdeɪʃən/
translation icon : humillación
  • Twenty-one million Americans endure osteoarthritis, a painful degradation of cartilage in the knees and other joints.
  • humiliation and degradation
  • moral degradation
  • human degradation

But that's not freedom, that's degradation.

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Examples

  • There's been really a degradation of the patient doctor relationship over the years.

  • The most common acts of hazing involved public verbal humiliation or degradation, which generally went unreported.

    Academic text (2015)
  • Why do I have to be exposed to this degradation over and over again?

  • We will offer pride and dignity... to those who have known only degradation.

  • The Church, he thinks, is a necessary restraint on what would otherwise be degradation and chaos.

    Academic text (1996)
  • Fifty years later, scapegoating and human degradation are now routinely accepted.

    Academic text (2003)
  • In both cases, enhancement leads not to human improvement, but rather to human degradation and loss of dignity.

    Academic text (2003)
  • A cruel action cited by one participant was the degradation of people with disabilities.

    Academic text (2000)
  • Thus, negritude acquired positive being where before it had been a mark of degradation and inferiority.

    Academic text (1991)
  • Experiencing constant degradation can have a severe impact on a person's self-esteem.

Synonyms

disgrace
vsdegradation
157 3.7

Loss of respect or honor after doing something shameful

is a broader low condition not only public loss of respect
humiliation
vsdegradation
  • Offensive
148 4.2

A feeling of shame and loss of respect for yourself after being made to look foolish

is a state of lost honor or position rather than the internal feeling
dishonor
vsdegradation
  • US
35 5.1

Shame and loss of respect after bad actions

focuses on losing dignity or rank rather than social judgement
degeneration
vsdegradation
8 7.5

A process of becoming worse in condition, quality, or morals

is mainly loss of dignity or honor rather than broad decline
dehumanization
vsdegradation
  • Offensive
4 7.8

Treating people like objects or animals and hurting their dignity

is the internal condition of lost dignity rather than the process causing it
debasement
vsdegradation
3 7.5

Making a person or thing less respected and less valued

is the overall condition of lost dignity not only the act
degeneracy
vsdegradation
  • Offensive
2 9.3

A fall in moral and social standards showing corruption

is a low or humiliated condition not necessarily about moral decay
abasement
vsdegradation
  • Formal
1 8.9

A feeling of deep shame when people treat you as unimportant

is the general state of lost dignity rather than the act causing it
abjection
vsdegradation
  • Literature
1 9.9

A feeling of being very low, ashamed, and rejected by others

is the general loss of dignity but less extreme in tone
tarnishment
vsdegradation
8.2

A loss of respect that makes people think less of someone

is the low humiliated condition rather than faded reputation or value
disreputability
vsdegradation
9.0

The state of being seen as not respectable or having a bad reputation

is the personal fall to a low state rather than general reputation

Antonyms

honor
  • US
2.2

Respect given to a person for good moral behavior

12 4.1

Raising someone to a higher job or rank

Compounds

graceful degradation
  • Specialized
6.9

A system that keeps basic functions when parts fail instead of stopping completely

How Humiliated

ignominy
  • Literature
2 9.3
degradation
16 6.3
shame
418 2.3
embarrassment
219 3.1

Surface Forms

degradation singular
degradations plural

Morphology

degradation = degrade (semi-transparent) = de + grad + ation

This is a regular noun from 'degrade' referring to the state or result of being degraded.

Etymology

The word degradation comes from de- 'down' and gradus 'step', just like grade and degrade. So to be degraded is to be 'stepped down' in honor or position, which is why degradation means a low or humiliated state.