debase
/dɪˈbeɪs/
"debase" is a 6-letter English headword indexed on PlainSpell.
The verdict
“debase” is an uncommon English word, ranked #84,155 in English word frequency and used as a verb.
- #84,155
- frequency rank, English
- 6
- letters
According to Wiktionary data (CC BY-SA, analyzed May 6, 2026) - To lower in character, quality, or value; to degrade.
| 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) |
Where “debase” sits in English frequency
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
The English entry for debase is 6 letters long, classified as a verb, and transcribed in the International Phonetic Alphabet as /dɪˈbeɪs/. Corpus data places it at rank #84,155 in overall English word frequency, marking it as uncommon enough that many writers pause before typing it. Wiktionary records 3 distinct senses for this headword, so context determines which meaning a reader should apply.
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.
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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Using “debase”
The practical upshot for anyone who landed here from a spell-check.
- The one correct English spelling is D-E-B-A-S-E - every other letter order is a misspelling in standard orthography.
- Say it as /dɪˈbeɪs/ (IPA); tap the speaker on the pronunciation badge to hear it where audio exists.
- Browse more English words and confusable pairs in the same reference. English words
Data Source
Wiktionary (via kaikki.org), licensed under CC BY-SA & GFDL. Word ordering uses an open word-frequency list; misspelling variants are generated by edit-distance from the correct headword.