denigrate

verb

den·i·grate ˈde-ni-ˌgrāt

denigrated; denigrating

Synonyms of denigrate next

transitive verb

: to attack the reputation of : defame

denigrate one's opponents

: to deny the importance or validity of : belittle

denigrate their achievements

denigration

ˌde-ni-ˈgrā-shən

noun

denigrative

ˈde-ni-ˌgrā-tiv

adjective

denigrator

ˈde-ni-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 Whether considering a Trump–Biden rematch in 2024, increasing inflation, the likelihood of World War III, or the ways in which technological advancement may further denigrate public morality, social media provide a constant download of negative information, and our imaginations do the rest. —

Madeleine Kearns, National Review, 26 Nov. 2023 President Biden has been touting his economic record in the buildup to the 2024 presidential election, taking a term used to denigrate his economic policies by more conservative columnists—Bidenomics—and turning it into a slogan that may end up defining his campaign. —

Will Daniel, Fortune, 16 Nov. 2023 More reasonable, if vastly more involved (and denigrated by one prominent Twitterer), were the ideas about a long barrier out at the Narrows or at Sandy Hook sealing off the entire harbor as is done in the Netherlands or, at long last, in Venice. —

Christopher Bonanos, Curbed, 30 Oct. 2023 The issue is everybody seems to have an opinion on Pinkett Smith’s choices and they are used as reasons to denigrate and disrespect her. —

Kushie Amin, refinery29.com, 30 Oct. 2023 Such semantics denigrate the most vulnerable players in this California business, relegating them to the shadows, including a father and son who hoped to send money home and instead lost their lives. —

Paige St. John, Los Angeles Times, 13 Nov. 2023 Antisemitism charges swirl after Putin denigrates Zelensky’s Jewish roots Zelensky is Jewish, and has relatives who were killed by the Nazis. —

Sammy Westfall, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2023 Using this infrastructure, the party was able to send messages touting the BJP’s accomplishments and denigrating its opponent, the Indian National Congress party, directly into the pockets of hundreds of millions of people. —

Gerry Shih, Washington Post, 27 Sep. 2023 These changes laid the groundwork for our current era, in which the private sector and the market are celebrated while the public and the state are denigrated. —

Sam Needleman, The New York Review of Books, 7 Oct. 2023 See More

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'denigrate.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.