Word meaning to take away the sophistication of something

Question

I've heard a perfect word to describe this before but I was not diligent enough to write it down; never thought I'd actually have a chance to use it. I just remember it was a fairly advanced/academic term to describe simplifying something. I do remember bits and pieces of the original sentence I heard it from, context is how adult hobbyist lego collectors critique certain lego releases:

"I'm not particularly fond of this set, because, as you can see, the build of the car has really been _______. They are clearly trying to make this set more accessible but it's come at the cost of quality and sophistication."

The way the word I'm trying to think of differs from "simplified" is that the word I'm trying to think of has a connotation of being designed for a younger audience, maybe like juniorized but that's not a word nor is it the academic-sounding word I'm sure was used.

Answer 1

Juvenilized from Dictionary.com

to make juvenile or immature:

to make suitable for or more appealing to children.

I see that this was also suggested by @tchrist in a comment on @Lambie's answer

Answer 2

It seems apparent to me that the idiom you're looking for is dumbed down.

dumb down vb
(tr) to make or become less intellectually demanding or sophisticated: attempts to dumb down news coverage.
_{TFD Online}

In your text, it would read:

"I'm not particularly fond of this set, because, as you can see, the build of the car has really been dumbed down. They are clearly trying to make this set more accessible but it's come at the cost of quality and sophistication."

Answer 3

The fact you thought of "juniorized" maybe suggests the word was infantilize(d)

From Merriam-Webster:

1 : to make or keep infantile

2 : to treat as if infantile

and synonyms of infantile, again from Merriam-Webster:

naive (or naïve), simple, simplistic, unsophisticated

Answer 4

I believe the verb is downgrade. It has the general meaning of reducing the quality, importance etc. of something, as an opposite of upgrade; and it can be used in different contexts. The word can be used for reducing the quality, complexity and sophistication of a product like a toy also.

to lower in quality, value, status, or extent - MW

To reduce in complexity, or remove unnecessary parts; to dumb down. - Wiktionary

I've even found examples of the verb downgrade in lego context used by lego fans:

If LEGO had downgraded it to a 4+ or even 6+ age range, it would have been a vast departure from the spirit of what people had supported. - eurobricks.com

I was looking at the new City sets recently and I'm surprised how much the theme has downgraded. - r/lego / reddit.com

Answer 5

The set has been debased.

Cambridge
Debase
to reduce the quality or value of something
Some argue that money has debased football.
Our world view has become debased. We no longer have a sense of the sacred.

Possible synonyms include cheapened, downgraded, or even bowdlerised) although this is usually reserved for written material).

Answer 6

Right, so the word that springs to mind immediately here is simplified and over-simplified.

Does that require reference? :)

Millions of Lego-lovers disagree with Kroto's analysis. But occasionally single items of Lego cause resentment - such as a windscreen/roof block made for the cab of a pick-up truck released in 2003. The orange piece, which appeared in just one set, was just one example of Lego becoming over-simplified, while the truck was "an abomination", Big Sal's Brick Blog says.

BBC+ over-simplified

It’s kind of amazing, how much the look and feel of the LEGO “Frozen” ice palace set is retained in this simplified DUPLO set.

simplified_Lego

Answer 7

Another possibility is trivialized (“To make trivial; reduce to triviality,” according to Merriam Webster.)

This word has a more negative connotation, like oversimplify (whereas simplify or demystify has a more positive one, and popularize is in between).

Answer 8

For what it's worth, "juniorize" is in common use in the context of Lego hobbyists to describe exactly this type of design. You said in the question that you thought it might have been another word, but "juniorize" is exactly what I'd expect someone to use in this context to describe a simplified Lego build.

Examples (emphasis added):

Juniorization (or Juniorisation in British English) refers to simplified (building) designs using larger parts, which makes the "juniorized" sets easier to construct by younger LEGO builders.

https://en.brickimedia.org/wiki/Juniorization

Well because there's no real need for juniorization. You just mentioned yourself "why not just buy brick buckets?", well that shows the problem right there. They're making their sets unappealing towards the MOCing audience...hell, the entire audience! Sure, they're 'easier' and faster to build, but at what cost? Sound construction? Sturdy structures? Unnecessary new molds which are not only harder to incorporate into a MOC but take away from new, potentially useful new molds, are another factor.

https://www.eurobricks.com/forum/index.php?/forums/topic/13462-why-do-people-complain-about-juniorization/

Those who know a little bit about the history of Lego probably won't be surprised that the truck with 28% specialised parts was from the early 2000's, a time when the number of parts and colours spiralled out of control, with many 'juniorised' sets, containing large specialised pieces. You'll notice that this is the set that contains the unique windscreen pictured above.

https://bigsalsbrickblog.blogspot.com/2014/08/it-was-all-basic-bricks-in-my-day-part_20.html

Answer 9

"To go downmarket"

"I'm not particularly fond of this set, because, as you can see, the build of the car has really gone downmarket. They are clearly trying to make this set more accessible but it's come at the cost of quality and sophistication."

From the dictionary:

Downmarket
to a lower quality and price:
This catalogue has gone downmarket since the last time I bought something from it.

Examples:
The Truth About Successful Entrepreneurship

The rise of a mass-class market means that many luxury products have gone downmarket.

Ray-Ban's Never Hide Ad Campaign

But the Italian company was faced with a problem. Ray-Ban sunglasses had gone downmarket, and the cheaply-made shades were selling in supermarkets for just a few dollars.

Alan Bennett: Nothing pleases me more than annoying people at 80

Nothing is more pleasing than knowing one can still provoke people at the age of 80, the playwright Alan Bennett has said, as he accuses the government of “treachery” and the National Trust of “going downmarket”.

Answer 10

In addition to the existing suggestions, there's also vulgarize and superficialize.

vulgarize:

• to spoil the quality or lower the standard of something that is good

  _{— Longman Dictionary}

• make less subtle or complex.

  _{— Lexico}

superficialize:

(transitive) To render superficial; to trivialize.

_{— Wiktionary}

Answer 11

I can think of popularise, in the sense of making something accessible and user friendly by simplification, or commercialise, in the sense of simplifying a product in such a way that people find it easy to use and are therefore more likely to buy it.

popularize

To make popular or accessible amongst a wide audience (WordHippo)

commercialize

manage or exploit (an organization, activity, etc.) in a way designed to make a profit. (OxfordL)

However, these verbs are not particularly directed towards a young audience, but rather towards the general public.

Answer 12

Verb form of "degenerate" (i.e. pronounced with a long a sound) could work. Something can degenerate in more ways than just losing sophistication so it's not a word specifically for this purpose, but loss of sophistication could very reasonably be said to be a type of degeneration. Works very well in your example if you remove the word 'been'.

Deteriorate can work too, with the same caveats as above.

Yet another could be 'blunted'. Maybe a little more of a stretch but I think the logic is something like: sophisticated = intelligent = sharp, whose antonym is 'blunt'. Dull also could work but doesn't sound as nice.

"I'm not particularly fond of this set, because, as you can see, the build of the car has really [degenerated/deteriorated/been blunted]. They are clearly trying to make this set more accessible but it's come at the cost of quality and sophistication."

No references to dictionary definitions because it doesn't really matter what the dictionary says if your audience clearly understands you :)

Edit: That said, here's one I just learned thanks to this question: Vitiate. Google's definition: "spoil or impair the quality or efficiency of". Strictly speaking, probably the best one in this list, but hardly anyone is going to know what it means except for what they can derive from the context.

Answer 13

Streamline comes to mind also as the OP mentioned that it is a formal academic-sounding word. It means to simplify a system, business, process, etc. or to make it more efficient.

to make simpler or more efficient
a system that streamlines the process
MW

Here are the examples I've found in lego context where streamline is used to simplify lego content or to make it suitable for younger audience (one of them is in LEGO video game context):

I see the next iteration of Design by Me going one of two ways, ether becoming a tool for more serious Lego enthusiast to have a means to bring their dream builds into reality or somehow being simplified and streamlined for younger consumers.
eurobricks.com

The story is told similarly to LEGO The Lord of the Rings. Audio for the main characters has been ripped straight from the films, though streamlined to be more appropriate for children.
hardcoregamer.com

Answer 14

Tarnished could work well. From Merriam Webster:

1: to dull or destroy the luster of by or as if by air, dust, or dirt : SOIL, STAIN
2: to detract from the good quality of

Answer 15

It is not an exact match, but you should still consider commoditize:

another term for commodify
_Lexico

And its synonym, commodify:

Turn into or treat as a commodity.
_Lexico

In your sentence:

I'm not particularly fond of this set, because, as you can see, the build of the car has really been commoditized.

The connotation being they have taken a car that used to be high-end and turned it into something sold as a commodity.

Answer 16

Something can be pared-down or distilled. Either of these terms is often followed by "to its essentials".

The meaning is that the non-essential aspects have been stripped away, and the connotation is that this is perhaps for the better. They do not have the negative implications of terms like "debased" or "degraded".

Answer 17

The simple answer would be massified:

To become, or cause to become, oriented toward mass production, mass consumption, and high throughput rather than individuality.

https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/massify

The stereotypical mass production is the Ford T.