vulgarizes
Strips of refinement
Vulgarizes is the third-person singular form of vulgarize, meaning to make something crude, coarse, or lacking in refinement.
When someone vulgarizes a work of art or literature, they strip away its subtlety or sophistication, often by oversimplifying or adding crude elements.
The term can also mean to make something widely accessible to ordinary people, though this sense carries a somewhat condescending tone.
The adaptation vulgarizes the novel's complex themes into cheap melodrama.
Becomes less refined
- debasesReduces in value
- cheapensReduces in value
- taintsMakes slightly impure
- sulliesDamages purity or honor
besmirches · defiles · obscenity · lewdness · ribaldry · bawdiness · smuttiness · raunchiness
Diminishes in quality
- demeansCauses loss of dignity
- debasesReduces in value
- cheapensReduces in value
- diminishesBecomes smaller or weaker
lowers · corrupts · tarnishes · dishonors · discredits · devalues · blemishes · adulterates
Makes something widely accepted
- democratizesMakes universally accessible
- mainstreamsDominant cultural currents
- normalizesMakes conform to standard
- universalizesMakes broadly applicable
homogenizes · standardizes · disseminates · commercializes · trivializes · commodifies · broadcasts · propagates
Makes excessively basic
- trivializesMakes light of
- reducesMakes less in quantity
- distortsMisrepresents or deforms
- flattensMakes level or even
caricatures · stereotypes · generalizes · misrepresents · condenses · abridges · homogenizes · streamlines
coarsens
Becomes less refined
sullies · besmirches · defiles · obscenity · lewdness · ribaldry · bawdiness · smuttiness · raunchiness · indelicacy
degrades
Diminishes in quality
diminishes · lowers · corrupts · tarnishes · dishonors · discredits · devalues · blemishes · adulterates · pollutes
popularizes
Makes something widely accepted
- democratizesMakes universally accessible
- mainstreamsDominant cultural currents
- normalizesMakes conform to standard
universalizes · homogenizes · standardizes · disseminates · commercializes · trivializes · commodifies · broadcasts · propagates · spreads
oversimplifies
Makes excessively basic
- trivializesMakes light of
- reducesMakes less in quantity
- distortsMisrepresents or deforms
flattens · caricatures · stereotypes · generalizes · misrepresents · condenses · abridges · homogenizes · streamlines · truncates
vulgarizesrefines
Makes purer or better
elevates · ennobles · polishes · cultivates · uplifts
vulgarizesintellectualizes
Analyzes to avoid emotion
formalizes · aestheticizes · rarifies · gentrifies · elevates