a situation in which somebody has lost all self-respect and the respect of other people 堕落；落魄，潦倒（的境况） the degradation of being sent to prison 被关进监狱的落魄境况
- (specialist)
the process of something being damaged or made worse 毁坏，恶化（过程） environmental degradation 环境恶化
Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense deposition from an office or rank as a punishment): from Old French, or from ecclesiastical Latin degradatio(n-), from the verb degradare, from de- ‘down, away from’ + Latin gradus ‘step or grade’.