What's the difference between debase and downgrade?

Debase


Definition:

  • (a.) To reduce from a higher to a lower state or grade of worth, dignity, purity, station, etc.; to degrade; to lower; to deteriorate; to abase; as, to debase the character by crime; to debase the mind by frivolity; to debase style by vulgar words.

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The borderline group scored significantly higher on the following scales: Disclosure (X), Debasement (Z), Passive-Aggressive (8A), Self-Defeating (8B), Borderline (C), and Major Depression (CC).
  • (2) I still have the stench of their debasement in my nostrils.
  • (3) Inevitably, they are not to everyone's taste: educated Mexicans are scandalised by what they see as the debasement of a noble folk tradition, the Catholic Church has denounced corridistas for glorifying the drugs trade, and at least five Mexican states have banned radios from airing the music.
  • (4) I said to Nick Boles, who at the time was the planning minister, ‘Have you been down to Eastleigh yet?’ and he said, ‘I’m told I’m not allowed to go down in case it inflames the whole housebuilding issue.’” Browne added: “The public, whether it’s the NHS or housebuilding, detect that gap, and you will see it now at constituency level with quite debased leaflet-based campaigning about what the parties are going to stop at local level, which is almost completely at odds with the macro-level speeches that the leaders are making up in Westminster.
  • (5) The impact reaches far beyond the figures inscribed on a Test-match scorebook and debases the credibility of the entire sport.
  • (6) If the system is to be effective, however, every temptation must be resisted by all involved parties to debase it by using it for self-serving purposes.
  • (7) But the most debased and vulgar abuse is directed at women, particularly liberal and secular women, and especially women who are not Hindu,” Guha said.
  • (8) In a society that values women on the basis of their sexuality, a woman who views herself as "debased" may see prostitution as a viable alternative--perhaps the only alternative.
  • (9) Failing all the above, do they have any worth in the rapidly debasing currency of iconicity?
  • (10) Twelve manipulation tactics were identified through separate factor analyses of two instruments based on different data sources: Charm, Reason, Coercion, Silent Treatment, Debasement, and Regression (replicating Buss et al., 1987), and Responsibility Invocation, Reciprocity, Monetary Reward, Pleasure Induction, Social Comparison, and Hardball (an amalgam of threats, lies, and violence).
  • (11) A possible cause of these complications may be the debasement of coagulation factors and opsonins in plasma after hepatectomy.
  • (12) They could not simultaneously debase the currency and back it with gold at a fixed rate.
  • (13) It's debased and stupefied, really, but that's daily politics."
  • (14) The progress in prenatal diagnosis and the possibility of replacing risk with security is about to debase the rationale of genetic counseling.
  • (15) Yet on this issue there appears to be a licence to reject our best scientists both here and abroad and rely instead on much less reliable views.” He has railed against the “dumbing down” of Australian debate in general and the debasing of smart policy for political gain.
  • (16) While this clown's latest assertion of his alpha-maleness, in debased imitation of Bertram Wooster's misadventures, will undoubtedly add to female consternation about a Drones Club government whose leader insults women and twits his rival for being insufficiently "macho", Mitchell's contribution to the public understanding of hegemonic masculinity also deserves a mention.
  • (17) A third factor is that currencies are being debased in the developed world, where sovereign debt is at record levels and bearish commentators fear the dollar could slump 20% in the next two years.
  • (18) Social cohesion is repeatedly challenged by the knowing use of debasing and divisive language, a politics where voters are encouraged to imagine all benefits claimants are scroungers and every migrant as potentially illegal.
  • (19) For Coetzee, the result reflected a debasement of Britain’s political culture: the traducing, with media complicity, of rational discourse by a leave campaign that targeted the very idea of factual argument.
  • (20) The purpose of these developments however is clear: to debase and disempower Republican Political Prisoners.” The republican prisoners warned: “Those overseeing and implementing these policies would do well to use history as their guide to see where their actions will lead.” In 2012 dissident republicans shot dead a Maghaberry prison officer, David Black , while he drove along a motorway on his way to work at the prison.

Downgrade


Definition:

Example Sentences:

  • (1) The criticism over the downgrading of the leader of the Lords was led by Lord Forsyth of Drumlean, a former Scotland secretary, who is a respected figure on the right.
  • (2) In the UK, George Osborne used this to his advantage, claiming "Britain faces the disaster of having its international credit rating downgraded" even after Moody's ranked UK debt as "resilient".
  • (3) Markets reacted calmly on Friday to the downgrade by Moody's of 16 European and US banks, with share prices steady after the reduction in credit ratings, which can push up the cost of borrowing for banks which they could pass on to customers.
  • (4) IPCC found a Gwent police control room operation had downgraded a call relating to her despite police knowing she was trying to escape a violent partner.
  • (5) Christine Lagarde, the IMF’s managing director, has made it plain that another downgrade is anticipated when the Washington-based organisation publishes its World Economic Outlook next week.
  • (6) A second recession hard on the heels of the first gives the (accurate) impression that the economy is a disaster area and makes a downgrade more likely.
  • (7) Results indicated a fairly pervasive tendency for the female subjects to upgrade successful males in relation to unsuccessful males but to downgrade successful females in relation to unsuccessful females.
  • (8) 8.44am GMT Today's schedule Here's some of the day's key events: • UK trade figures 9.30 GMT • Greece industrial production10.00 GMT • US non-farm payrolls 1.30 GMT We've already had French industrial production, which is not exactly positive in the wake of the S&P downgrade.
  • (9) Russia’s credit rating has been downgraded to junk status for the first time in a decade due to the collapsing oil price, the tumbling value of the rouble and sanctions imposed because of its intervention in Ukraine.
  • (10) And when S&P downgraded the US long-term credit rating from AAA to AA+, it was doing so for some sound reasons – because of the appalling immaturity of the Republican Tea Partiers in their negotiations over the debt ceiling.
  • (11) It is reluctantly forced to strip the UK of its treasured AAA rating when the government's growth forecasts have faced repeated downgrades and the upturn is out of sight.
  • (12) Moody's isn't catching up with shaky peripheral nations but pre-empting a credit downgrade of the EU's strongest core members.
  • (13) Reports of clinical observations suggest that the prognosis of teeth with minimal interradicular width should be downgraded in periodontal patients.
  • (14) More powerful regional allies, such as the UAE, may be displeased and downgraded ties by recalling ambassadors, but calculated that they didn’t want to break off ties with Tehran entirely.
  • (15) "The downgrade of the UK's sovereign ratings primarily reflects a weaker economic and fiscal outlook and hence the upward revision to Fitch's medium-term projections for UK budget deficits and government debt," it said.
  • (16) The downgrading in late 2013 of what had been a fully fledged A&E unit at Chase Farm to an urgent care centre, despite a huge campaign of opposition, led to a 20% increase in the number of sick people seeking treatment at the North Middlesex.
  • (17) The downgrade followed a week of fighting in Ukraine that appeared to undermine a brand-new truce negotiated between the leaders of Russia, Germany, France, Ukraine and the pro-Moscow rebels.
  • (18) The state of emergency was cancelled just after dawn when the tsunami risk was downgraded.
  • (19) BP credit rating downgraded after Tony Hayward's grilling by Congress 19 June One of BP's partners, Anadarko Petroleum, refuses to accept any responsibility for the Deepwater Horizon explosion despite owning a quarter of the well.
  • (20) • The following correction was published on 5 February 2012: "Downgrades, debt and junk: key questions about the eurozone crisis answered" (Business), said: "The [Eurozone financial stability facility] fund has already committed large sums to Greece, Ireland and Portugal and will need to raise more money should Italy and Spain need the same kind of help."