What does debase mean? Is there any difference between the words debase and degrade?
Collins Dictionary says this about debase:
To debase something means to reduce its value or quality. [formal] Politicians have debased the meaning of the word 'freedom'. [VERB noun] 'He said parliament and the process of democracy had been debased. [VERB noun]
and this about degrade:
Something that degrades someone causes people to have less respect for them. ...the notion that pornography degrades women. [VERB noun] When I asked him if he had ever taken bribes he said he wouldn't degrade himself like that. [VERB pronoun-reflexive]
So, according to these definitions, we degrade someone and we debase something. Is that correct?
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