TOP

Definition of base adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

base

adjective
 
/beɪs/
 
/beɪs/
(comparative baser, superlative basest)
(formal)
jump to other results
  1. having no moral principles or rules
    • He acted from base motives.
    Homophones base | bassbase   bass
     
    /beɪs/
     
    /beɪs/
    • base noun
      • Cut the stalks at their base.
    • base verb
      • The government is to base its decision on the results of these trials.
    • base adjective
      • The trolls typify all that is base and ugly in human nature.
    • bass noun
      • This song is all treble and no bass.
    • bass adjective
      • His powerful bass voice contributed much to the film.
    Topics Personal qualitiesc2
    Word Originadjective late Middle English: from Old French bas, from medieval Latin bassus ‘short’ (found in classical Latin as a type of nickname). Early senses included ‘low, short’ and ‘of inferior quality’; from the latter arose a sense ‘low in the social scale’, and hence (mid 16th cent.) ‘reprehensibly cowardly, selfish, or mean’.
See base in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
aspiration
noun
 
 
From the Word list
Oxford 5000
C1
Oxford Learner's Dictionaries Word of the Day