traduce

verb tra·duce \ trə-ˈdüs , -ˈdyüs \

|Updated on: 10 Jun 2018

Tip: Synonym Guide

Examples: traduce in a Sentence

Editor's Note: Did You Know?

Definition of traduce

traduced; traducing

transitive verb

1 : to expose to shame or blame by means of falsehood and misrepresentation

2 : violate, betray

traduce a principle of law

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traducement

play \trə-ˈdüs-mənt, -ˈdyüs-\ noun

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traducer

noun

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Examples of traduce in a Sentence

He was traduced in the press.
a law that traduces one of our most cherished rights: the right to privacy

Recent Examples of traduce from the Web

Think of Lucrezia Borgia, traduced by slander and gossip, and of Isabella d’Este, greedy for art.

— sarah dunant, New York Times, "Who Was Vittoria Colonna? Just One of Italy’s Great Poets...," 1 June 2018
The idea of someone who works directly for the Trump White House supervising the bureau traduces its entire purpose.

— kimberly harrington, The New Yorker, "The Dangers of Undoing Dodd-Frank," 24 July 2017
Partly, there’s the tonic shock of encountering again, in person, works that are traduced by reproduction, which muffles their keynotes of material, touch, and scale.

— peter schjeldahl, The New Yorker, "The Joy of Eighties Art," 6 Feb. 2017
Some players’ records reflect abilities enhanced by acts of bad character — surreptitious resorts to disreputable chemistry that traduces sportsmanship.

— george f. will, The Mercury News, "Will: Baseball must decide if Cooperstown is a shrine or a museum," 21 Jan. 2017
This remoteness, as much as their frequent conflation with swamps, has served to traduce bogs in the popular imagination.

— henry wismayer, New York Times, "Letter of Recommendation: Bogs," 16 Nov. 2016

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

Did You Know?

Traduce is one of a number of English synonyms that you can choose when you need a word that means "to injure by speaking ill of." Choose "traduce" when you want to stress the deep personal humiliation, disgrace, and distress felt by the victim. If someone doesn't actually lie, but makes statements that injure by specific and often subtle misrepresentations, "malign" may be the more precise choice. To make it clear that the speaker is malicious and the statements made are false, "calumniate" is a good option. But if you need to say that certain statements represent an attempt to destroy a reputation by open and direct abuse, "vilify" is the word you want.

Origin and Etymology of traduce

Latin traducere to lead across, transfer, degrade, from tra-, trans- trans- + ducere to lead — more at ¹tow

NEW! Time Traveler

First Known Use: 1573

in the meaning defined at sense 1

See Words from the same year

traduce Synonyms

Synonym Discussion of traduce

malign, traduce, asperse, vilify, calumniate, defame, slander mean to injure by speaking ill of. malign suggests specific and often subtle misrepresentation but may not always imply deliberate lying.