Denigrate

//ˈdɛnɪɡreɪt// adj, verb

adj, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To criticise so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame. transitive

    "Although in public Soviet officials tend to denigrate the French electric locomotives imported recently, there is little doubt that lessons learnt from these engines will be incorporated in new Russian designs."

  2. 2
    charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone wordnet
  3. 3
    To treat as worthless; belittle, degrade or disparage. transitive

    "You have no right to denigrate people and things that you have no personal experience with."

  4. 4
    cause to seem less serious; play down wordnet
  5. 5
    To blacken. rare
Adjective
  1. 1
    Blackened.

Synonyms

All synonyms
aspersebelittlebesmirchcalumniatedefamedefame

Example

More examples

"Some translate while others denigrate."

Etymology

From Latin dēnigrātus, the perfect passive participle of dēnigrō (“to blacken”) (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē + nigrō (“to blacken”) (from niger (“black”)). Cognate with Middle English denigart(e) (“darkened, discolored”).

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