degraded

[dih-grey-did]

adjective

1. reduced in rank, position, reputation, etc..

   He felt degraded by the trivial tasks assigned to him.

2. reduced in quality or value; debased; vulgarized.

   the degraded level of the modern novel.

Other Word Forms

• degradedly adverb
• degradedness noun
• undegraded adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of degraded¹

First recorded in 1400–50; late Middle English; degrade, -ed ²

Example Sentences

Decades of farming and irrigation have degraded the soil, drawing salts and metals to the surface.

From Los Angeles Times

Because the skeletons are badly degraded, the DNA extracted from them is low and of poor quality.

From BBC

The Iranian-backed group was significantly degraded in last year's war with Israel but has, so far, refused to give up its arsenal, despite calls from the US and domestic rivals.

From BBC

Environment Canada issued alerts for much of Ontario, warning that wildfire smoke had significantly degraded air quality.

From BBC

Over decades, this relentless “grazing” of pledges, without consistent, effective follow-through, degraded the shared resource of trust down to bare earth.

From Salon