better vs degrade

better

verb
  • To improve. 

  • To surpass in excellence; to exceed; to excel. 

  • To give advantage to; to support; to advance the interest of. 

  • Had better. 

  • To become better; to improve. 

adj
  • Greater in amount or quantity 

adv
  • Greater or lesser (whichever is seen as more advantageous), in reference to value, distance, time, etc. 

  • Had better. 

noun
  • An entity, usually animate, deemed superior to another; one who has a claim to precedence; a superior. 

degrade

verb
  • To reduce in quality or purity. 

  • To reduce in altitude or magnitude, as hills and mountains; to wear down. 

  • To lower in value or social position. 

How often have the words better and degrade occurred in a corpus of books? (source: Google Ngram Viewer )