as in to degrade
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
bastardize the art form by adapting it to popular taste
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Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of bastardize
But, like all good things, it has been bastardized to the point of not being worth your time.
—
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 June 2026
Our ideals have been bastardized.
—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Short’s personality and complexity, attributes long discarded as her life became bastardized, stand in stark contrast to the inhumanity of her death.
—
Nathan Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
In both, to bastardize a saying, the play’s the thing.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Nov. 2025
The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction.
—
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
Additionally, adding the musical element further bastardizes this tale.
—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
Matt Reigle Outkick,
FOXNews.com,
3 June 2026
Our ideals have been bastardized.
—
William Mersey,
New York Daily News,
8 Apr. 2026
Short’s personality and complexity, attributes long discarded as her life became bastardized, stand in stark contrast to the inhumanity of her death.
—
Nathan Smith,
Los Angeles Times,
26 Jan. 2026
In both, to bastardize a saying, the play’s the thing.
—
Sarah Shachat,
IndieWire,
30 Nov. 2025
The events meant to bring us together, like the Super Bowl or March Madness, have been bastardized into vehicles for ruinous addiction.
—
MSNBC Newsweek,
14 Nov. 2025
Additionally, adding the musical element further bastardizes this tale.
—
Aramide Tinubu,
Variety,
10 Nov. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastardize
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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Some of that sentiment reflects the fact that the president and those around him subvert the rule of law, decency, and democratic restraints.
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The Sedition Act of 1918, which subverted the Bill of Rights, imposed penalties for anti-government expression.
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.
Verb
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In other words, expanding loyalty beyond hotels does not have to dilute the hotel business.
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Han credits the international team with sharpening his instincts rather than diluting them.
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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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 most common type of dementia, which destroys memory and cognitive function, was responsible for 116,022 deaths in 2024, NCHS data shows.
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That book is a revenge fantasy about the former art school professor who seduced her, discarded her and destroyed her confidence as a painter.
Cite this Entry
“Bastardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/bastardize. Accessed 5 Jul. 2026.
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