degrading

Degrading is an adjective and a verb describing the act or effect of lowering something's dignity, value, or status. It can refer to a person's treatment as well as to more abstract declines in quality. In everyday use it often denotes humiliating or demeaning conditions or actions toward an individual or group. In international law, states may not subject individuals to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.

Social science uses degradation to describe declines in social standing, moral norms, or environmental conditions that reduce well-being. Degradation can involve stigma, discrimination, or erosion of rights, and may be linked to structural inequality, poverty, or conflict.

Materials science and engineering use degradation to refer to deterioration of substances or components over time. Causes include chemical reactions such as corrosion, mechanical wear, fatigue, UV exposure, and thermal cycling. Polymers may degrade through hydrolysis, oxidation, or photooxidation, and some materials are designed to be biodegradable or recyclable.

Environmental degradation is the depletion of ecosystems and natural resources through pollution, deforestation, soil erosion, desertification, and overuse. It results in reduced biodiversity, lower soil fertility, and compromised water quality. Mitigation often involves conservation, sustainable management, pollution control, and restoration efforts.

In information technology and communications, degradation can describe the loss of data or signal quality. Data degradation or bit rot refers to gradual corruption or obsolescence of stored information; signal degradation reduces the clarity or reliability of transmitted signals. The term is also used in other domains to describe processes that worsen over time.