Noun
The act of reducing in rank, character, or reputation, or of abasing; a lowering from one's standing or rank in office or society; diminution; as, the degradation of a peer, a knight, a general, or a bishop.
The state of being reduced in rank, character, or reputation; baseness; moral, physical, or intellectual degeneracy; disgrace; abasement; debasement.
Diminution or reduction of strength, efficacy, or value; degeneration; deterioration.
A gradual wearing down or wasting, as of rocks and banks, by the action of water, frost etc.
The state or condition of a species or group which exhibits degraded forms; degeneration.
Arrest of development, or degeneration of any organ, or of the body as a whole.
Source: Webster's dictionaryToday, the degradation of the inner life is symbolized by the fact that the only place sacred from interruption is the private toilet. Lewis Mumford
So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die. William Morris
It is the system, rather than individuals, that is the source of pollution and degradation. My prison-house environment is but another manifestation of the Midas-hand, whose cursed touch turns everything to the brutal service of Mammon. Alexander Berkman
The people who abandon Jihad fall a victim to humility and degradation. Abu Bakr
A hurtful act is the transference to others of the degradation which we bear in ourselves. Simone Weil
The most solid comfort one can fall back upon is the thought that the business of one's life is to help in some small way to reduce the sum of ignorance, degradation and misery on the face of this beautiful earth. George Eliot