Disparage

//dɪsˈpæɹɪd͡ʒ// noun, verb

noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    Inequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior. obsolete, uncountable

    "But, for his meane degree might not aspire / To match so high, her friends with counsell sage / Dissuaded her from such a disparage […]"

Verb
  1. 1
    To match unequally; to degrade or dishonor. obsolete

    "Alas! that any of my nation Should ever so foul disparaged be."

  2. 2
    express a negative opinion of wordnet
  3. 3
    To dishonor by a comparison with what is inferior; to lower in rank or estimation by actions or words; to speak slightingly of; to depreciate; to undervalue.

    "August 30, 1706, Francis Atterbury, a sermon preach'd in the Cathedral Church of St. Paul, at the funeral of Mr. Tho. Bennet those forbidding appearances which sometimes disparage the actions of men sincerely pious"

  4. 4
    To ridicule, mock, discredit.

    "Had he disparaged my personal appearance I should in all probability have laughed at him with lively indifference"

Synonyms

All synonyms
belittleabaseabateabradeabstractabuse

Example

More examples

"We shouldn't disparage other people."

Etymology

From Middle English disparage (noun), disparagen (verb), from Old French desparage (noun), desparagier (verb), from des- (“dis-”) + parage (“equal rank, rank”).

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