Definition of "degraded"

degraded

/dɪˈɡɹeɪdəd/

adjective
comparative more degraded, superlative most degraded
1. Feeling or having undergone degradation; deprived of dignity or self-respect.
  Quotations
  The Netherlands […] were reduced, practically, to a very degraded condition.
  1856, John Lothrop Motley, The Rise of the Dutch Republic. A History. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I to III), New York, N.Y.: Harper & Brothers, […]
2. (biology) Having the typical characters or organs in a partially developed condition, or lacking certain parts.
  Quotations
  The Grapsoid species are represented of a degraded form in Porcellana
  1852, James Dwight Dana, Crustacaea
3. (heraldry, not comparable) Having steps; said of a cross whose extremities end in steps growing larger as they leave the centre; on degrees.
  Quotations
  A Cross degraded Fitchee.
  1725, A New Dictionary of Heraldry ... Illustrated with 196 devices on copper ... Revis'd and corrected, with a letter to the publisher, by Mr. James Coates, page 98
  Ar. a cross, degraded, sa.
  1828, William Berry, Encyclopaedia Heraldica Or Complete Dictionary of Heraldry, page 168
  Argent, a cross degraded and conjoined, (or issuing from eight degrees,) sable. WYNT-WORTH.
  1847, Henry Gough, A Glossary of Terms Used in British Heraldry: With a Chronological Table, Illustrative of Its Rise and Progress, page 99
verb
1. simple past and past participle of degrade