To lower the value or reputation of someone or something.

*Debase* is often used to talk about someone's lowered status or character. People are constantly blustering about the debased tastes of the ordinary American, and especially the debased music of America's youth. A commentator might observe that both candidates had managed to debase themselves by the end of a political campaign. *Debase* has a special meaning in economics: From time to time, governments find that they need to quietly debase their countries' currency by reducing the percentage of valuable metal in its coins; if they don't, the metal may become more valuable than the coin and people will begin melting the coins down and reselling the metal.

The harming of someone's reputation by libel or slander.

Harming someone's reputation in speech with falsehoods is known as slander, and doing the same thing in writing is known as libel (which sometimes includes speech as well). Any ordinary citizen who can claim to have suffered harm as a result of such defamation may sue. So why aren't politicians suing all the time? Because an exception is made for “public persons” (a category that includes most other celebrities as well), who must also prove that any such statement was made with “reckless disregard for the truth.” And although, even by that standard, public persons are *defamed* all the time, most of them have decided that it's better to just grin and bear it.

Causing the body or part of the body to become weaker or less able to function as time passes.

Degenerative diseases—including cancer, glaucoma, Parkinson's, diabetes, arthritis, and leprosy—are usually contrasted with infectious diseases (diseases caused by bacteria, viruses, fungi, and protozoa). However, many infectious diseases (Lyme disease, AIDS, etc.) can cause a body or body part to *degenerate*, and infective organisms play a part in some degenerative diseases. Some degenerative diseases can be controlled; some can even be cured. But no one has yet discovered a way to reverse such degenerative conditions as multiple sclerosis, emphysema, or Alzheimer's.

Sadness, depression, or lowness of spirits.

Based partly on the Latin *iacere*, “to throw” (see JECT), *dejection* means literally “cast down”—that is, “downcast.” Like *melancholy*, *gloom*, and even *sadness*, *dejection* seems to have been declining in use for many years; instead, we now seem to prefer *depression* (whose roots mean basically “a pressing down”). Since *depression* is also the word used by doctors, lots of people now assume that anyone depressed should be taking an antidepressant; if we went back to *dejected* and *dejection*, we might not be so quick to make that assumption.

(1) Having no legal power; invalid. (2) Having no elements.

*Null* is used mostly by lawyers, mathematicians, and computer programmers. In law, it usually occurs in the phrase “null and void” (which means about the same thing as *null* itself). When one of the parties that has signed a contract doesn't hold up his or her part of the deal—for example, if a contract states that a supplier must supply a million screws of a certain quality of steel, and it turns out the screws supplied were of inferior steel—the other company can refuse to pay anything, claiming the contract is null and void. In mathematics, *null* means “lacking any elements” ; a *null set* is a set of figures that's actually empty. In computer programming, a *null* is a character that doesn't actually show up as a character, but instead may just be required to show that a series of digits or characters is finished.

(1) Nothingness. (2) A mere nothing.

Intellectuals may speak of a book or a film as a nullity, claiming it possesses nothing original enough to justify its existence. Legal scholars also use the word; a law passed by a legislature may be called a nullity if, for example, it's so obviously unconstitutional that it's going to be shot down by the courts in no time. And if you're in an unkind mood, you're also free to call a person a nullity, if you're not instead calling him a nobody, a nonentity, or a zero.

(1) To cancel legally. (2) To cause something to lose its value or to have no effect.

A legislature may nullify a ban, a law, or a tax by simply passing a new law. Election results can be nullified if a court finds the voting process was improper, and a court ruling can be nullified by a higher court. Even the Supreme Court itself may have its decisions nullified by new laws passed by the Congress—though not if a decision is based on the Constitution. In the years leading up to the American Civil War, Southern states claimed the right to nullify any federal law (such as antislavery laws) that they believed to be unconstitutional, leading to the *Nullification* Crisis of 1832. *Annul* is a close synonym of *nullify* (with the same root), as are *abrogate* and *invalidate*.

An official statement that something is no longer valid.

*Annulment* usually applies to marriage. In some states an annulment may be carried out by a court (“judicial annulment”), but annulment is generally practiced by a church (“ecclesiastic annulment”), and principally the Roman Catholic Church, which traditionally hasn't permitted divorce. The usual acceptable reason for annulment is a “failure to consummate” the marriage by having children. Unlike a marriage that ends in divorce, an annulled marriage is considered never to have existed. Other things can be annulled as well, including a contract (if one party fails to comply with its terms) or an election (if it wasn't carried out properly).