discredit
Americanverb (used with object)
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to injure the credit or reputation of; defame.
an effort to discredit honest politicians.
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to show to be undeserving of trust or belief; destroy confidence in.
Later research discredited earlier theories.
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to give no credence to; disbelieve.
There was good reason to discredit the witness.
noun
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loss or lack of belief or confidence; disbelief; distrust.
His theories met with general discredit.
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loss or lack of repute or esteem; disrepute.
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something that damages a good reputation.
This behavior will be a discredit to your good name.
verb
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to damage the reputation of
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to cause to be disbelieved or distrusted
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to reject as untrue or of questionable accuracy
noun
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a person, thing, or state of affairs that causes disgrace
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damage to a reputation
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lack of belief or confidence
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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discreditsimple
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discreditssimple
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have discreditedperfect
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has discreditedperfect
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am discreditingprogressive
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are discreditingprogressive
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is discreditingprogressive
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have been discreditingperfect progressive
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has been discreditingperfect progressive
Past
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discreditedsimple
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had discreditedperfect
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was discreditingprogressive
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were discreditingprogressive
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had been discreditingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of discredit
Explanation
Discredit means to cause mistrust or cast the accuracy of something into doubt. If you say that schooling is important to you, but you never study, your actions discredit you and your words. You discredit what someone says when you choose not to believe it. You can discredit the rumors going around about your boyfriend if you are sure of his love. On a more personal level, you discredit people when you cast their authority or reputation into doubt. If you're running a tough race for class president, your opponent may try to discredit you by talking about your failures or even making up lies about you. But this would be to the discredit of your opponent — his or her own reputation would suffer for this bad behavior.
Vocabulary lists containing discredit
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Believe It or Not: Cred
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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:
Her legal team described the businessman as a Russian-born exile and outspoken critic of Russian President Vladimir Putin, arguing that Pitt’s claims amounted to an inaccurate and xenophobic attempt to discredit him.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 6, 2026
“We will not allow allegations involving one former employee of a nonprofit organization to discredit an entire field of work and dedicated intervention workers who show up every day to prevent harm.”
From Los Angeles Times ● May 30, 2026
The closure "really did a lot of work to discredit the notion of a just transition", Gibbs believes.
From BBC ● Apr. 29, 2026
This builds on the Guardian newspaper’s November report on a Qatar-linked private intelligence operation by at least two firms, Highgate and Elicius Intelligence, hoping to discredit Mr. Khan’s alleged assault victim.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 2026
Los Alamos constantly worried that if it rejected a project, it would be seen, to its discredit, as “less ‘enthusiastic’ ” than its rival, Livermore.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
"It's easier for the Russians this way, because it discredits Ukraine in the eyes of our partners and European countries," said Vitaliy Sova, a senior investigator.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
“This makes us vulnerable and discredits our goal to be a strong, independent geopolitical power,” Pentus-Rosimannus said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 2, 2026
For this reason, Lacreuse said she doesn’t believe that the most recent chimpanzee study discredits the grandmother hypothesis.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2023
He also discredits her impulsive offer in 1977 to trade places with Jewish hostages held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda, suggesting her “judgment” was way off.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 13, 2022
Craig said the problem with things is that everyone is always comparing everyone with everyone and because of that, it discredits people, like in his photography classes.
From "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky
This account lines up with the information provided in the CIA cables from the previously discredited Giaka.
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Two concurring justices favored harmless-error review, which would preserve the verdict if the state proved, “beyond a reasonable doubt,” that the discredited testimony did not affect the outcome.
From Slate ● Jul. 17, 2026
One essay defended the gold standard, which had been discredited in the 1930s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
But thanks to a thoroughly discredited British doctor who claimed to document changes in behavior in children given the MMR vaccine, creating the so-called “Wakefield effect,” some of this progress has been undone.
From Salon ● Apr. 8, 2026
The agreement infuriated Chief Buthelezi, who severed relations with the NP and formed an alliance with a group of discredited homeland leaders and white right-wing parties solely concerned with obtaining an Afrikaner homeland.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
Instagram, TikTok and Reddit boards are filled with roughly 1,000 comments regarding the Yerord Mas “ragequit” debate, some discrediting the restaurant and others the influencer.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 13, 2026
“Lavagna helped Milei and Caputo for two years by delaying the change, paying the price of discrediting both himself and the institute,” Exquanti said.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 5, 2026
He said that he began writing about Guo in 2017, believing that the businessman was discrediting the work of Chinese dissidents.
From BBC ● Jul. 16, 2024
And this is why discrediting whistleblowers works so well.
From Salon ● Jun. 20, 2024
The discrediting of witnesses can be a highly effective tactic, and Quintilian observes that it can be done against whole categories of witnesses, as well as against individuals.
From "Words Like Loaded Pistols" by Sam Leith
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.
