Meaning
- Degradation (noun) refers to the process of something being reduced, damaged, or deteriorated in quality, condition, or status.
- It can also mean the lowering of someone’s dignity, honor, or rank.
Grammar and Usage
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Part of speech: Noun
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Uncountable in most uses, but can sometimes be countable when referring to specific instances.
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Common structures:
- the degradation of something
- environmental degradation
- suffer degradation
Common Phrases
- Environmental degradation – damage to the natural environment.
- Moral degradation – decline in ethical standards.
- Human degradation – humiliation or loss of dignity.
- Soil degradation – reduction in soil quality due to overuse.
Collocations
- Verb + degradation: cause degradation, prevent degradation, suffer degradation, experience degradation.
- Adjective + degradation: severe degradation, environmental degradation, gradual degradation, moral degradation.
- Degradation + noun: degradation process, degradation level, degradation rate.
Examples
- Deforestation leads to severe environmental degradation.
- The prisoners suffered years of degradation and abuse.
- Plastic waste contributes to the degradation of the oceans.
- Corruption has resulted in the moral degradation of society.
- The scientist studied the degradation process of organic matter.
- Overgrazing has caused soil degradation in the area.
- The movie depicts the slow degradation of the character’s dignity.
- Constant exposure to the sun can lead to the degradation of materials.
Synonyms or Related
- Deterioration
- Decline
- Decay
- Breakdown
- Corruption
- Humiliation
- Degeneration