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
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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
The question is whether the ways in which Pence abased himself in Trump’s efforts to hold on to power will make his testimony seem weaker or more credible.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2023
The tension of the novel is between the femme’s self-abasing love for the brilliant masculine creator and the artist in search of her own form.
—Saidiya Hartman, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2023
He’s forced Republican politicians to publicly abase themselves and trash the nation’s premier law-enforcement agencies in an effort to stay in his good graces.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2022
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
By the end of the weekend, the entire NBA was in damage-control mode, profusely and absurdly abasing themselves.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Oct. 2019
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
The question is whether the ways in which Pence abased himself in Trump’s efforts to hold on to power will make his testimony seem weaker or more credible.
—Amy Davidson Sorkin, The New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2023
The tension of the novel is between the femme’s self-abasing love for the brilliant masculine creator and the artist in search of her own form.
—Saidiya Hartman, The New Yorker, 3 Mar. 2023
He’s forced Republican politicians to publicly abase themselves and trash the nation’s premier law-enforcement agencies in an effort to stay in his good graces.
—Susan B. Glasser, The New Yorker, 11 Aug. 2022
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
By the end of the weekend, the entire NBA was in damage-control mode, profusely and absurdly abasing themselves.
—Michael Brendan Dougherty, National Review, 7 Oct. 2019
Recent Examples of Synonyms for abase
Verb
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Poor sizing can result in uneven temperatures, higher utility bills, potentially shorter equipment lifespan, and degraded indoor air quality.—
Brynn Cooksey,
Forbes.com,
30 July 2025
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In April, Hamdan Ballal, another of the film’s co-directors, was beaten and degraded by Israeli settlers, then blindfolded and detained at an army base, only weeks after winning an Oscar.—
Emily Zemler,
Rolling Stone,
29 July 2025
Verb
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Coach Ruben Amorim publicly humiliated him before a loan move to Aston Villa for the final half of the campaign.—
Zak Garner-Purkis,
Forbes.com,
20 July 2025
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Caught in an undignified situation, humiliated by a hot, skinnier love interest, Jessica was the latest incarnation of the funny fat lady (who is never actually that fat, merely representative of the average American woman).—
Alison Willmore,
Vulture,
16 July 2025
Verb
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Among many methods deployed, the most common was to debase the circulating coins and inflate the money supply.—
Dave Birnbaum,
Forbes.com,
4 July 2025
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Read More: The Battle for Our Memory Is the Battle for Our Country But debasing our history through censorship and ideological cherry-picking insults the memory of the nine saints who were murdered at Mother Emanuel, desecrating its sacred space all over again.—
Kevin Sack,
Time,
3 June 2025
Verb
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This is mainly an effort to discredit and demonize property taxes, which DeSantis wants to abolish or severely curtail in Florida.—
Steve Bousquet,
Sun Sentinel,
26 July 2025
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Trump’s theory here, juiced by Gabbard, is that Obama used talk of Russian election interference to discredit Trump’s 2016 election win and hobble his first term in office.—
Chris Brennan,
USA Today,
24 July 2025
Verb
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This weakens their ability to educate, create, and grow.—
Miguel Cardona,
Time,
21 July 2025
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This could help verify recent findings from the Dark Energy Spectroscopic Instrument (DESI) that suggest this strange force is actually weakening over time.—
Robert Lea,
Space.com,
20 July 2025
Verb
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Silverstein poisons her argument, and thus grossly diminishes it, by introducing these political considerations that have nothing to do with antisemitism.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
27 July 2025
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The algae have poisoned more than 4,500 square kilometers (1,737 square miles) of the state’s waters – an area larger than Rhode Island – littering beaches with carcasses and ravaging an area known for its diversity.—
Lex Harvey,
CNN Money,
26 July 2025
Verb
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While instilling fear by propagating cruelty may be a de facto policy to deter others from immigrating to the U.S., demeaning people in this way demeans us all.—
Nicole Widdersheim,
The Orlando Sentinel,
29 July 2025
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The former Islander was removed from the villa after using a word that demeans the Asian community.—
Armando Tinoco,
Deadline,
9 July 2025
Verb
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When politicians—rather than professionals—can select which types of research can be funded and how that money can be spent based on their own preferences, the entire pursuit of knowledge is corrupted.—
Brian Sandberg,
Time,
16 July 2025
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Any profession can corrupt its practitioners — and arts critics are no exception.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Abase.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/abase. Accessed 5 Aug. 2025.
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