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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
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
-
Douglass advises against starting from the assumption that people arrive somewhere and immediately begin to degrade the environment.—
Ari Daniel,
NPR,
8 Oct. 2025
-
This process degrades the mirrors' reflectivity and clarity over time, so technicians regularly recoat and polish them to ensure the best precision.—
Kenna Hughes-Castleberry,
Space.com,
6 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
We were crushed, humiliated, and broken, after our city was destroyed, occupied and erased from existence.—
Ruth Margalit,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
-
Alarr’s unwelcome physical touching made Plaintiff feel offended, uncomfortable, humiliated and intimidated.—
Lynette Rice,
Deadline,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Dogville, from 2003, is an experimental Lars von Trier film shot on a stage set in which Kidman plays a woman debased and abused by the inhabitants of a small town.—
Wendell Steavenson,
Vogue,
8 Oct. 2025
-
Freddy Krueger debases the suburban American ideal through the dreams of teenagers in Nightmare on Elm Street.—
Rachel Raposas,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
In the book, she's portrayed as someone suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder and on anxiety medication, both of which are used to discredit her and paint her as unwell.—
Rebecca Aizin,
PEOPLE,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Bullmer attempts to discredit her until Carrie, dressed as Anne, backs her up.—
Maureen Lee Lenker,
Entertainment Weekly,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But with her coalition prospects in doubt, and the party weakened by scandal and voter frustration, her route to Japan’s top job is far from assured.—
Hanako Montgomery,
CNN Money,
11 Oct. 2025
-
Studies have found that, in some instances, background noise can weaken territorial responses in males.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
10 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
But Antonio distracts him by accusing him in the town square of sending Justina off to El Alcazar and poisoning his son.—
Dave Nemetz,
TVLine,
12 Oct. 2025
-
One of the jurors said deliberations were poisoned by a belief among some jurors that a member of the panel had been paid off by Weinstein or his lawyers.—
Eva Roytburg,
Fortune,
11 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
What once was aberrant—indeed, unimaginable—is now standard Trump fare, demeaning not only to the Presidency but to the rule of law.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
9 Oct. 2025
-
Like me, Tommy would have looked to the culture around him to learn the language of demeaning women.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
8 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Files were easily lost or corrupted.—
Christopher Vourlias,
Variety,
8 Oct. 2025
-
As a model named Carl, stuck in a relationship corrupted by microcelebrity and Instagram view counts, Dickinson ticks with exasperation and sarcastic logic, his jaw clenched, his eyes wide and staring.—
Carrie Battan,
Vulture,
6 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abase. Accessed 15 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share