Degradate vs. Degrade

Degradateverb

(nonstandard) To cause, or to undergo degradation

Degradeverb

(transitive) To lower in value or social position.

‘Fred degrades himself by his behaviour.’;

Degradeverb

(intransitive) To reduce in quality or purity.

‘The DNA sample has degraded.’;

Degradeverb

To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Degradeverb

To reduce from a higher to a lower rank or degree; to lower in rank; to deprive of office or dignity; to strip of honors; as, to degrade a nobleman, or a general officer.

‘Prynne was sentenced by the Star Chamber Court to be degraded from the bar.’;

Degradeverb

To reduce in estimation, character, or reputation; to lessen the value of; to lower the physical, moral, or intellectual character of; to debase; to bring shame or contempt upon; to disgrace; as, vice degrades a man.

‘O miserable mankind, to what fallDegraded, to what wretched state reserved!’; ‘Yet time ennobles or degrades each line.’; ‘Her pride . . . struggled hard against this degrading passion.’;

Degradeverb

To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.

Degradeverb

To degenerate; to pass from a higher to a lower type of structure; as, a family of plants or animals degrades through this or that genus or group of genera.

Degradeverb

reduce the level of land, as by erosion

Degradeverb

reduce in worth or character, usually verbally;

‘She tends to put down younger women colleagues’; ‘His critics took him down after the lecture’;

Degradeverb

lower the grade of something; reduce its worth