disparage
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
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to speak contemptuously of; belittle
-
to damage the reputation of
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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disparagementnoun
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disparagernoun
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disparagingadjective
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undisparagedadjective
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disparaginglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disparagesimple
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disparagessimple
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have disparagedperfect
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has disparagedperfect
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am disparagingprogressive
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are disparagingprogressive
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is disparagingprogressive
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have been disparagingperfect progressive
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has been disparagingperfect progressive
Past
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disparagedsimple
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had disparagedperfect
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was disparagingprogressive
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were disparagingprogressive
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had been disparagingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disparage
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English, from Anglo-French, Old French desparag(i)er “to match unequally,” from des- dis- 1 + -parag(i)er, verb derivative of parage “equal rank,” also “high birth, noble descent” ( see peerage)
Explanation
If you haven't got anything nice to say, then it's time to disparage someone. It means to belittle or degrade a person or idea. Disparage is a specific way to describe a certain kind of insult, the kind that secures the insulter's place as superior. It often refers to an opinion or criticism lobbed in print or via word of mouth, not necessarily an act done to someone's face. If someone or something is being disparaged, you will often find a competing interest in the wings.
Vocabulary lists containing disparage
The Bill of Rights
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Grade 11, List 2
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All About That Baseless: Bad-Faith Accusations
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
He called upon people to love their enemies, not rebuke them or disparage their existence.
From Salon ● Jun. 5, 2026
“I took all of his commentary to be very, very careful not to disparage any person on the court or elsewhere,” she said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
Spielberg, for his part, was careful not to disparage streaming.
From Barron's ● Mar. 14, 2026
USA men's ice hockey player Brady Tkachuk has distanced himself from an AI-enhanced White House video in which he appears to disparage Canadians, saying "those words would never come out of my mouth".
From BBC ● Feb. 27, 2026
This caused perhaps the most publicized dissent against the Lazarus woodpecker, with op-ed pieces running weekly in the paper to disparage John Barling and his mob of birdwatcher friends.
From "Where Things Come Back" by John Corey Whaley
Warsh regularly disparages such models and the “economics guild” that developed them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 31, 2026
But it also disparages those susceptible to pseudofolliculitis barbae, a medical condition primarily affecting Black men like the show’s razor-shy recruit, wherein regular shaving causes inflammation and a higher likelihood of scarring and developing keloids.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
The order also directed officials to ensure that monuments do not contain content that disparages Americans.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 23, 2025
I would like to point out that the 18th-century world Messinger so disparages also gave us the freedom of religion, freedom of speech and freedom of the press.
From Seattle Times ● Nov. 22, 2023
He feels tenderness toward her when she disparages herself this way.
From "The Namesake" by Jhumpa Lahiri
Other research has been disparaged for not using proper quality-control measures.
From Barron's ● Jan. 27, 2026
He disparaged Denmark in particular when recalling how in 1940 it "fell to Germany after just six hours of fighting and was totally unable to defend either itself or Greenland".
From BBC ● Jan. 21, 2026
Last fall, Warsh disparaged a brief to the Supreme Court signed by all former living Fed chairs and a bipartisan group of Treasury secretaries.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 16, 2026
Moreover, the tools that America helped build to tackle shared global threats, like international law and multilateral organizations such as the United Nations, have been disparaged and undermined.
From Salon ● Jan. 7, 2026
The Love Life of Dr. Kane disparaged her, her friends, and the movement she believed in.
From "American Spirits" by Barb Rosenstock
And with technology growing as rapidly as it is, it behooves the company’s bottom line to avoid damning and disparaging devices outright.
From Salon ● Jun. 21, 2026
She once received a refund after a flight attendant made a disparaging remark about how she was dressed.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 10, 2026
Several people who worked with Foa suggested she could be intimidating and sometimes disparaging to people she worked with.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
A "Japan glazer" is "someone who puts everything that comes from Japan on a pedestal, while disparaging things that come from their own country", Louzembi said.
From Barron's ● Mar. 24, 2026
He made disparaging remarks about the United States.
From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
