Break
Break verb - To bring to a lower grade or rank.
Usage example: the captain was broken to lieutenant commander for disobeying a direct order from his group commander
Downgrade is a synonym for break in rise topic. In some cases you can use "Downgrade" instead a verb "Break", when it comes to topics like weaken.
Downgrade
Downgrade verb - To bring to a lower grade or rank.
Usage example: increased automation resulted in many jobs in the factory being downgraded
Break is a synonym for downgrade in rise topic. Sometimes you can use "Break" instead a verb "Downgrade", if it concerns topics such as lower in opinion or rank.
Nearby Words: downgraded, downgrading
Common collocations
Both words in one sentence
- It doesn't make the armor any more durable however, and a single hit will break the armor and downgrade his weapon.
Source: Breakable Power Up -
It doesn't make the armor any more durable however, and a single hit will break the armor and downgrade his weapon to basic.
Source: Video Game / Ghosts 'n Goblins
Cite this Source
Downgrade and Break. (2016). Retrieved 2026, August 15, from https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/downgrade
Break & Downgrade. N.p., 2016. Web. 15 Aug. 2026. <https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/downgrade>.
Downgrade or Break. 2016. Accessed August 15, 2026. https://thesaurus.plus/related/break/downgrade.
Google Ngram Viewer shows how "break" and "downgrade" have occurred on timeline