1
as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
was unwilling to abase himself by pleading guilty to a crime that he did not commit
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in to humiliate
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
I certainly don't abase myself when I do good, honest manual labor
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of abase
Turturro was attracted to the novel’s house style: Its manic, sarcastic, abasing observations, largely written in the third person but never far from Sabbath’s perspective, seemed made for the theater.
—
Marc Tracy,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2023
Pence has long since perfected the ability to abase himself in public without seeming the least bit ashamed.
—
Susan B. Glasser,
The New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2023
Unfortunately, an impulse to abase oneself isn’t resolved by a recognition that human life is a collaboration.
—
Caleb Crain,
The Atlantic,
10 Aug. 2021
One by one, internees abase themselves before 60 of their fellow prisoners, repenting of their errors in thinking and their nonprogressive religious practices.
—
James E. Person Jr.,
National Review,
17 Sep. 2020
Marc Tracy,
New York Times,
25 Oct. 2023
Pence has long since perfected the ability to abase himself in public without seeming the least bit ashamed.
—
Susan B. Glasser,
The New Yorker,
24 Aug. 2023
Unfortunately, an impulse to abase oneself isn’t resolved by a recognition that human life is a collaboration.
—
Caleb Crain,
The Atlantic,
10 Aug. 2021
One by one, internees abase themselves before 60 of their fellow prisoners, repenting of their errors in thinking and their nonprogressive religious practices.
—
James E. Person Jr.,
National Review,
17 Sep. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abase
Verb
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When temperatures rise, heat can quietly degrade pantry staples, making refrigeration essential to preserve quality and flavor.
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If leaders are not present and actively developing people, the system degrades—quietly at first, then all at once.
Verb
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Israel must leave humiliated and defeated — and that is exactly what will happen.
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Instead of demanding personal fealty or humiliating them to assert personal dominance, Lincoln absorbed their egos and occasional slights, elevating their talents and turning his fiercest political adversaries into his most devoted champions.
Verb
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In spite of their original values of humanitarianism and neutrality, these organizations have been morally debased from within, using the language of human rights and international justice yet deploying it on behalf of autocracies and against the liberal democracies that created them.
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In order to emerge victorious in his quest to bring the World Cup to Mexico, De la Torre debases himself and backstabs shamelessly.
Verb
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Instead, they are encouraged to view blue zones primarily through the lens of a sloppy critique that has already been discredited.
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This doesn’t discredit the fact that mental and physical changes from menopause can be disorienting and jarring.
Verb
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Vcg | Visual China Group | Getty Images BEIJING — China’s consumer spending slowdown persisted in June, with growth during one of the country’s largest online shopping festivals weakening sharply from a year earlier.
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All three of those protagonists have been weakened in their roles by what has gone on.
Verb
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The special bond between Supergirl and her scruffy animal sidekick becomes a key plot point in Kara’s new solo movie, where Krypto is poisoned by space outlaw Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts).
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Kara Zor-El (Alcock) goes on a planet-hopping mission to save her beloved Krypto – with young and vengeful girl Ruthye (Eve Ridley) in tow – after he’s poisoned by the villainous Krem of the Yellow Hills (Matthias Schoenaerts).
Verb
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Dean also wrote that she was also subjected to demeaning comments from the late radio host Don Imus during her tenure as a news editor and reporter for his program in the early 2000s.
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Because he was being completely bullied and demeaned and excused.
Verb
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Forgetting his bond with the land, Mariano awakens the Ch’iqmi, a dark force that corrupts his people.
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Lander has argued Goldman, the multimillionaire heir to the Levi jeans fortune, embodies establishment, corporate interests that corrupt the Democratic Party.
Cite this Entry
“Abase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abase. Accessed 3 Jul. 2026.
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