1
degrade sb/sth to sth
常用于指地位或尊严的降低。
The scandal degraded him to a mere clerk.
丑闻使他降级为一名普通职员。
贬低；降低…的身份；使降级
degrades — third person singular of degrade
先理解核心含义，再看它在真实句子里的用法。
贬低；降低…的身份；使降级
to lower someone or something in rank, value, or social position
The scandal degraded him to a mere clerk.
丑闻使他降级为一名普通职员。
降低价值或社会地位
To lower in value or social position.
使降低；侵蚀
To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down.
degrade
Base
原形
degrades
3rd person
第三人称单数
degrading
-ing
现在分词
degraded
Past
过去式
degraded
Past participle
过去分词
The quality degrades over time.
质量随时间退化。
The storm degraded the road.
暴风雨使道路退化。
The land has degraded due to erosion.
土地因侵蚀而退化。
规则动词，过去式和过去分词均加-ed。
Constant criticism can degrade a person's confidence over time.
不断的批评会逐渐削弱一个人的自信心。
The company was accused of using images that degrade women.
该公司被指责使用贬低女性的形象。
Over millions of years, wind and water degrade the rocks into fine sand.
数百万年来，风和水把岩石侵蚀成细沙。
常用于指地位或尊严的降低。
The scandal degraded him to a mere clerk.
丑闻使他降级为一名普通职员。
常用于环境科学语境。
Human activities degrade the soil by overusing chemicals.
人类活动通过过度使用化学物质使土壤退化。
强调逐渐变差的过程。
The once-thriving city degraded into a ghost town.
曾经繁荣的城市退化为一座鬼城。
Not this
The degrade of the land is serious.
Use this
The degradation of the land is serious.
degrade 是动词，不可用作名词；表示‘退化、降级’的名词形式是 degradation。
Not this
He degraded by lying.
Use this
He degraded himself by lying.
当表示‘使某人自己蒙羞’时，degrade 后需接反身代词 himself/herself 等，或者使用被动语态。
Focus on the distinctions below. Other candidates are kept compact until a reliable usage note is available.
降低质量
Using cheap materials will degrade the quality of the product.
使用廉价材料会降低产品的质量。
有损人格尊严
No one should be forced to do work that degrades human dignity.
任何人都不应被迫从事有损人格尊严的工作。
破坏环境
Mining can degrade the environment and harm local communities.
采矿会破坏环境，并损害当地社区。
使土壤退化
Overuse of chemical fertilizers can degrade soil.
过度使用化肥会使土壤退化。
随时间降解
This plastic bag will not degrade over time in a landfill.
这种塑料袋在垃圾填埋场中不会随时间降解。
恶化成；堕落为
Their argument degraded into a bitter personal attack.
他们的争论恶化成了尖刻的人身攻击。
退化为，沦为
Their friendly discussion degraded into a bitter argument.
他们友好的讨论演变成了一场激烈的争吵。
自贬身份，降低自己的人格
He would never degrade himself by lying to his friends.
他绝不会靠对朋友撒谎来贬低自己。
降低到……的水平
Do not degrade yourself to the level of those who spread rumors.
别把自己降低到那些散布谣言的人的水平。
Use degrades naturally, then get feedback on meaning, tone, grammar, and phrasing.
Revisit a common error or keep this word in your review list.
grade 是“等级”，前面的 de 联想为“低下”——等级被压低就是降级、贬低；山丘被侵蚀磨损也是变低。
语域：formal 常见场景：职场或社会评价中的正式表达、地理、材料或环保领域的学术描述 degrade 通常用于正式或学术语境，表示降低价值或社会地位，或指物质降解、山体侵蚀等。日常口语中较少见，多出现在书面报告或专业讨论中。
这些词均与 degrade 的 /-eɪd/ 韵脚押韵：grade、raid、afraid、parade、shade、persuade 都含 /-eɪd/ 音。注意 degrade 的拼写与 degree /dɪˈɡriː/ 相似，但发音不同；degradation 重音和元音也不同，不押韵。
Dictionary facts from ECDICT, OCTANOVE, WIKTIONARY, WORDNET.