different between downgrade vs degradation

English

Etymology

From down- +? grade.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /?da?n???e?d/
• Hyphenation: down?grade

Noun

downgrade (plural downgrades)

1. A reduction of a rating, as a financial or credit rating.
2. A downhill gradient on a road or railway.

Verb

downgrade (third-person singular simple present downgrades, present participle downgrading, simple past and past participle downgraded)

1. To place lower in position.

2. To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down.
3. (transitive) To disparage.
   • 1981, King Royer, Construction Manager in the 80's (page 278)

     Without downgrading my friends in the Building Trades, driving a nail or sawing a board is relatively simple.

4. (meteorology) to reduce the official estimate of a storm's intensity.
5. (computing) To revert software back to an older version.

Synonyms

• degrade
• demote
• defame
• reduce
• revert
• ruin

Translations

References

• “downgrade”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.

Anagrams

• dead wrong, dead-wrong, dog warden

English

Etymology

From French dégradationMorphologically degrade +? -ation

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?d?????de???n/
• Rhymes: -e???n

Noun

degradation (countable and uncountable, plural degradations)

1. The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society
   • 1912, Charles DeLano Hine, Letters from an old railway official: Letter 7

     This feature of good organization, the conferring of definite local superior rank, and the protection of the incumbent from unnecessary degradation, was discovered centuries ago by another effective institution, the Catholic church.

2. The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.
3. Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.
4. (geology) A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc.
5. A deleterious change in the chemical structure, physical properties or appearance of a material from natural or artificial exposure.
6. The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.
7. Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.
8. The gradual breakdown of components of a material, as a result of a natural element, i.e.: heat, cold and wind.

Hyponyms

• biodegradation
• graceful degradation
• Marker degradation

Related terms

• (reducing in rank, character, or reputation): comedown
• decomposition

Translations

Anagrams

• gradationed