Decry

//dɪˈkɹaɪ// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To denounce as harmful. transitive

    "Nothing is more uſual and more natural for thoſe, vvho pretend to diſcover any thing nevv to the vvorld in philoſophy and the ſciences, than to inſinuate the praiſes of their ovvn ſystems, by decrying all thoſe, vvhich have been advanced before them."

  2. 2
    express strong disapproval of wordnet
  3. 3
    To blame for ills. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms
condemnabuseaccuseanathematizeanathemizeanimadvert on

Example

More examples

"Environmentalists decry what they say are Bolsonaro's anti-environment stance in favor of oil, mineral, logging and ranching interests."

Etymology

C. 1600, from Middle French decrier (“to denigrate; depreciate”), from Old French descrier (“to shout”) (modern décrier). Doublet of descry. The pejorative meaning had not been present in the Middle English loan, but it was present in the French word from at least the 13th century, with a meaning of "to denigrate; depreciate; to announce the depreciation or suppression of a currency", presumably from the interpretation of de- as meaning "down, inferior".

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.