denigrate

verb

den·i·grate | \ ˈde-ni-ˌgrāt

denigrated; denigrating

Definition of denigrate

transitive verb

1 : to attack the reputation of : defame denigrate one's opponents

2 : to deny the importance or validity of : belittle denigrate their achievements

Other Words from denigrate Synonyms & Antonyms Did You Know? More Example Sentences Learn More about denigrate

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Other Words from denigrate

denigration \ ˌde-ni-ˈgrā-shən

\ noun

denigrative \ ˈde-ni-ˌgrā-tiv

\ adjective

denigrator \ -ˌgrā-tər

\ noun

denigratory \ ˈde-ni-grə-ˌtȯr-ē

\ adjective

Did You Know?

If you "denigrate" someone, you attempt to blacken their reputation. It makes sense, therefore, that "denigrate" can be traced back to the Latin verb denigrare, meaning "to blacken." When "denigrate" was first used in English in the 16th century, it meant to cast aspersions on someone's character or reputation. Eventually, it developed a second sense of "to make black" ("factory smoke denigrated the sky"), but this sense is somewhat rare in modern usage. Nowadays, of course, "denigrate" can also refer to belittling the worth or importance of someone or something.

Examples of denigrate in a Sentence

Her story denigrates him as a person and as a teacher. No one is trying to denigrate the importance of a good education. We all know that it is crucial for success. denigrating the talents and achievements of women

Recent Examples on the Web

And one of the more common ways to denigrate an opponent in such an argument is to play the purity card. — Jonathan M. Gitlin, Ars Technica, "This isn’t a game: We try out a professional driver-in-the-loop simulator," 9 Aug. 2018 Some New Testament passages in which Paul denigrates women were actually inserted later by male church leaders threatened by Paul's radically inclusive vision, Crossan says. — John Blake, CNN, "How Easter became a #MeToo moment," 30 Mar. 2018 Many of them cited Trump’s statements denigrating minorities, Muslims, women and the LGBTQ population. — Tom Foreman Jr., The Seattle Times, "Republican convention set for August 2020 in Charlotte," 1 Oct. 2018 President Trump is openly denigrating the Federal Reserve on Twitter. — Gunjan Banerji, WSJ, "Behind the Market Swoon: The Herdlike Behavior of Computerized Trading," 25 Dec. 2018 Tennis superstar Serena Williams, for example, got denigrated after arguing with, and demanding an apology from, a U.S. Open umpire who issued her a series of violations. — Celeste Katz, Glamour, "For Female Political Candidates, Sometimes the Biggest Threat Isn’t Losing an Election," 17 Sep. 2018 Female rage rises with every dismissed and denigrated allegation of abuse. — Megan Feldman Bettencourt, Harper's BAZAAR, "How Forgiveness Has Been Weaponized Against Women," 25 Sep. 2018 On top of those scandals was Snapchat CEO Evan Spiegel, whose female-denigrating fraternity rant was leaked to Valleywag in 2014. — Alexandra Wolfe, Marie Claire, "Inside the Androgynous Sexual Wasteland of Silicon Valley," 19 Dec. 2016 For one thing, as Margon points out, no U.S. president has spoken about human rights the denigrating way Trump has. — Trudy Rubin, Philly.com, "U.S. withdrawal from U.N. Human Rights Council reflects Trump hypocrisy | Trudy Rubin," 20 June 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'denigrate.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.