debase
/dɪˈbeɪs/
"debase" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“debase” is uncommon English (frequency #84,155 among 3,470 “D” headwords), classed as a verb. The kind of spelling people second-guess.
- #84,155
- frequency rank, English
- 3,470
- “D” headwords
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed September 3, 2026) - To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
Corpus desk
Index EN-debase · debase · English
debase · rank #84,155 · 0 variants · 0 confusables
- FREQ-RARE #84,155
- LEN-LONG 6 letters
- VOW-3 3 vowels
- CONFUS-0 No pairs
- VAR-0 0 variants
- BOOK-MID 3,470
- PHOTO-FINISH Deakins
Nearest frequency peer: Deakins (-1 rank slots)
Read with this headword: Spelling guide for this pattern
Desk codes from Wiktionary headword shape, FrequencyWords rank tier, confusable-pair count, generated misspelling depth, letter-cohort book size, and photo-finish peer. Not a difficulty grade.
Long-tail ranks near “debase”
Sparse band: bars invert rank so rarer forms read shorter
- Daventry
Daventry
15,851 corpus weight
- Dawlish
Dawlish
15,850 corpus weight
- Deakins
Deakins
15,847 corpus weight
- debase
debase
15,846 corpus weight
- decoction
decoction
15,845 corpus weight
- derailleur
derailleur
15,842 corpus weight
What this shows Long-tail view: where “debase” sits against similarly uncommon English ranks.
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Headword | debase |
| Language | English |
| Part of speech | Verb |
| IPA | /dɪˈbeɪs/ |
| Letters | 6 |
| Frequency rank | #84,155 |
| Misspellings tracked | 0 |
| Confusable pairs | 0 |
| Source | Wiktionary (kaikki.org) |
Long-tail rank of “debase” in English
Rare enough to double-check
debase is uncommon English at frequency #84,155 among 3,470 “D” headwords, classed as averb, transcribed /dɪˈbeɪs/. Rarity is why readers land here mid-draft. 3 senses are on record.
No generated misspelling entries exist for debase in our index, a sign its spelling follows regular English conventions. Our confusable-pair dataset has no match for it, since nothing in our dataset looks or sounds close enough to cause mix-ups.
Etymologically, the entry records: From de- + base, from Old French bas, from Latin bassus. Cognate with Spanish debajo (“under, beneath, below”). Compare abase. The correct English form is debase, spelled D-E-B-A-S-E.
Definition
- 1To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
- 2To lower in position or rank.
- 3To lower the value of (a currency) by reducing the amount of valuable metal in the coins.
Recorded use
Wiktionary exampleThese source excerpts show how debase appears in context. They illustrate usage; the definition above remains the entry’s reference meaning.
And just as history will decide whether the leaders of today's world employed the atom to destroy the world or rebuild it for mankind's benefit, so will history decide whether today's broadcasters employed their powerful voice to enrich the people or to debase them.
Etymology
From de- + base, from Old French bas, from Latin bassus. Cognate with Spanish debajo (“under, beneath, below”). Compare abase.
This word in other languages
Definitions, pronunciation, and etymology for this entry are drawn from Wiktionary via the kaikki.org structured extract (CC BY-SA); frequency ordering uses the FrequencyWords open word-frequency list (2018 English corpus, MIT). See the methodology for how each field is sourced and updated.
Frequently Asked Questions
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Similar English words by spelling shape
Same letter count and similar misspelling depth for "debase", not the corpus desk frequency band.
Same letter count
Frequency-ranked English headwords with 6 letters (nearest by frequency rank).