Vulgarize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. To lower the cultural or intellectual quality of something, making it less sophisticated
2. To reduce the refinement or elegance of an idea or style so it appears cruder or more common
3. To simplify or coarsen a concept, art form, or behavior so it loses its original sophistication

Etymology: "Vulgarize" is built from "vulgar" and the suffix "-ize". "Vulgar" comes from Latin "vulgaris", meaning "of the common people", from "vulgus", the crowd. Its sense of "coarse" or "tasteless" developed later, as an idea of the common crowd came to stand for what was unrefined. The suffix has a longer route. It descends from Ancient Greek "-ízein", which turned nouns and adjectives into verbs meaning "to make into, to treat in the manner of". Late Latin adopted it as "-izare", Middle French as "-iser", and English took it in as "-isen" before settling on the spelling "-ize". So the word is a native English formation from a Latin base and a Greek-derived suffix, and it means, literally, to make something common.

Synonyms: simplify, dumb down, reduce, misrepresent, distort

Antonyms: elevate, refine, cultivate, enhance, improve