Degrading

How to spell degrading

9 letters · 3 syllables

How to pronounce degrading

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does degrading mean?

1. adjectiveCausing a loss of dignity, self-respect, or the regard of others.
2. verbCausing something to break down or decline in quality or condition; the present participle of degrade.

Degrading in a sentence

• adjective

  The staff complained that the new uniform felt degrading and undignified.

• verb

  Constant heavy traffic is slowly degrading the surface of the old bridge.

• adjective

  She refused the degrading task of cleaning up after her colleagues' mistakes.

• verb

  Sunlight is gradually degrading the plastic, making it brittle and pale.

Where does degrading come from?

Language of origin: Latin

This word descends ultimately from the Latin gradus, meaning 'a step' or 'a stage', the same root that gives us 'grade', 'gradual', and 'gradient'. Late Latin combined it with the prefix de-, meaning 'down', to form degradare, literally 'to step down', which described reducing a person from one rank to a lower one. The word travelled into English through the Old French degrader during the 1400s, at first in the very literal sense of stripping a knight or cleric of their official rank. Over time the meaning widened from formal demotion to any lowering of dignity, quality, or condition, and the participle 'degrading' came to describe something that humiliates or wears down. The spelling keeps the single d of grad intact, so the trap is mainly the unstressed first syllable, which sounds like 'di' yet is written with an e from that original de- prefix.

How the word is built

• de- (down)
• grad (step, grade, from Latin gradus 'a step')
• -ing (present participle/adjective suffix)