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With the following definition:

To lower in quality or character.

Synonyms found:

corrupt, pervert, subvert, demoralize, demoralise, debauch, debase, profane, vitiate, deprave, misdirect

However all of those have a very "intentionally evil" connotation. I would say more along the lines of "messed up", but it needs to portray that it's somewhat intentional, just not with the evil slant.

Intentionally done, but unintentionally wrong, is what I'm looking for.

Perfect Example:

My nick name on here is Aequitarum Custos, which is a "bastardized" Latin, it should have been Aequitatis Custos (the correct way to say what I wanted).

I intentionally created my nick like that, but had no intention to make it wrong.

Reason for desiring a synonym is due to the perceived obscenity of the word bastard by some people.

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2  
Can you give an example of the sort of sentence/context you’d like to use it in? – PLL Mar 9 '11 at 16:06
@PLL example given – Aequitarum Custos Mar 9 '11 at 16:20
1  
I'd argue that you should use "bastardised", because it's the correct word; those who are (wrongly) offended will just have to learn. – slim Dec 19 '11 at 11:38

9 Answers

up vote 4 down vote accepted

Most words which are synonymous with bastardized will probably have negative connotations, I would imagine. Several that have been suggested (adulterate, debase, contaminated, pollute) all sound negative to me. The reason is that most of these things are not desirable things. Nobody wants contamination or pollution or something that's been reduced to its base form.

Thus I'd suggest other words that don't imply so much destruction:

  • twisted
  • broken
  • malformed
  • defective
  • unusual (as a euphemism)
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Malformed fits perfectly in my example, and those other suggestions are very good for different situations. Thanks! – Aequitarum Custos Mar 9 '11 at 19:20
up vote 4 down vote

Adulterate might be useful. It still sounds dirty, but not as evil as contaminate and whatnot.

By far the best term for the specific situation of your username is Canis Latinicus. A less specific and fairly neutrally descriptive term for bastardized language is simply broken.

If you'd like to lampshade the fact that you're bowdlerizing the term "bastardized" in order to placate the squeamish, I would suggest illegitimized.

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That will work great for physical composition, and honestly would work better than bastardize in that situation. – Aequitarum Custos Mar 9 '11 at 16:17
up vote 2 down vote

You might consider dilute or mitigate.

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up vote 2 down vote

I like 'borked' or 'borken' but I'm not sure if that passes the bar or not :)

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up vote 2 down vote

You fudged it: "to make or adjust in a false or clumsy way".

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up vote 1 down vote

I don't think debase, contaminate and pollute necessarily express negative intent.

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"He contaminated/polluted the water/food/air", is general usage of those words, a very negative connotation because of it. Debase now that I think about it is relatively neutral, but it applies more towards currency, morals and people, rather than something you can do to a random object, so doesn't really fit my needs unfortunately. +1 for pointing out debase. – Aequitarum Custos Mar 9 '11 at 16:06
1  
I think you can say “accidental contamination”, which makes it clear it does not have inherent negative intent implications... But, there is no accounting for taste – F'x Mar 9 '11 at 16:18
up vote 0 down vote

"Misuse"

"My nick name on here is Aequitarum Custos, which is a "misused" Latin"

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up vote 0 down vote

This particular example is dog-Latin (not to be confused with pig-Latin). The word has a long history (17th century if not earlier), and means 'Latin words, but without the correct grammar or agreement'; seems ideal.

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up vote 0 down vote

Dysmorphic I suppose. Though a basically a medical term exists with very narrow definition.

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