decry
Americanverb (used with object)
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decries,
present (3rd person singular)
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decried,
past participle, past
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decrying
present participle
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to speak disparagingly of; denounce as faulty or worthless; express censure of.
She decried the lack of support for the arts in this country.
- Synonyms:
- minimize, depreciate, discredit, disparage, belittle
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to condemn or depreciate by proclamation, as foreign or obsolete coins.
verb
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to express open disapproval of; disparage
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to depreciate by proclamation
to decry obsolete coinage
Synonym Usage
Decry, denigrate, deprecate, derogate all involve the expression of censure or disapproval. Decry means to express one's vigorous disapproval of or to denounce: to decry all forms of discrimination. Denigrate means to speak damagingly of, to criticize in derogative terms: denigrating his works as trifling and poorly executed. Deprecate implies the expression of earnest, thoughtful disapproval: to deprecate a plan because of possible environmental damage. Derogate means to speak in such a way as to decrease the status, high quality, or good reputation of someone or something, making the person or object seem of less value: Fear of change makes them derogate every proposal put forth.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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decrysimple
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decriessimple
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have decriedperfect
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has decriedperfect
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am decryingprogressive
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are decryingprogressive
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is decryingprogressive
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have been decryingperfect progressive
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has been decryingperfect progressive
Past
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decriedsimple
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had decriedperfect
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was decryingprogressive
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were decryingprogressive
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had been decryingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of decry
1610–20; < French décrier, Old French descrier. See dis- 1, cry
Explanation
When you dye your hair pink and orange, your mother decries your act as a horror and bursts into tears. She criticizes your choice of colors, stating that pink and purple would have looked better. You might decry learning French, declaring it as a waste of time. Yet many English words come from French. When the French conquered England in 1066, they brought with them their language as well as their social system. Because French was spoken mostly by the ruling class, many of the loan words are formal. Decry comes from the Old French descrier, "to cry out" or "announce." When you decry something, you simultaneously condemn it and discredit it, a formal act.
Vocabulary lists containing decry
Advanced English Words
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This Week in Words: October 28 - November 2, 2018
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"The Ransom of Red Chief" by O. Henry
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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:
As part of their humanitarian efforts, Perlmutter and his colleagues go on Western media, such as CNN, to decry the conditions of the Palestinian people.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
Whether civics institutes will support discourse across ideological lines or mimic the ideological conformity they decry remains to be seen.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 19, 2026
It is not enough to decry the damage done by DOGE’s destruction.
From Slate ● Apr. 23, 2026
And those who decry people for asking for help when they have enough money to see them through retirement — on paper — are probably dealing with their own first-world problems every day.
From MarketWatch ● Apr. 17, 2026
However, all writers about them, from Romans to modern zookeepers, decry their irascible temper and their nasty habit of biting people.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
But the homeless estimates Pratt decries aren’t something those two have cooked up in a boardroom.
From Slate ● Jun. 3, 2026
New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, who now controls the nation’s largest school system, decries the socioeconomic and racial divisions in the public schools.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 20, 2026
It also decries the government’s freezing of $584 million in research grant funding.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 19, 2025
Josh Svaty, who assists renewable energy companies seeking county-level approval and lobbies for them at the Kansas Statehouse, decries how opponents can make local officials’ lives “absolutely miserable.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
Better Joe hath suggested some specific remedies, which Isaac the Joiner decries loudly as the cant of heathenish superstition; and indeed, one wonders at the applications of bone.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson
Sandoval’s ex, Dillon Maquindang, stood at a podium Thursday morning and decried the defendant for cheating on them, manipulating them and taking out his failures on Maquindang’s family.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 13, 2026
Residents in the capital, San Juan, where the taps were turned off on Friday, decried the rationing.
From BBC ● Aug. 9, 2026
He decried the inaction of the government, which he said should have "raised awareness among young people on the dangers of irregular migration" and on disinformation on social media.
From Barron's ● Aug. 2, 2026
After the final whistle, striker Mehdi Taremi thanked the adoring crowd but decried the impact of the war on his squad, from absent staff to grueling travel.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 16, 2026
As a former educator, Garfield decried the nation's high rate of illiteracy, particularly in the South, revealed by questions in the 1880 census asking if a person could read and write.
From "Ambushed!" by Gail Jarrow
Her condemnation followed a slew of public comments from other erstwhile allies of the governor decrying his decision to return to office.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 23, 2026
A member of Tupac Shakur's entourage was combative in testimony during the second day of the rapper's murder trial, decrying being forced to take the stand and identify those responsible for Shakur's death.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
You can see dozens if not hundreds of news articles every week decrying the damage that these foods are doing to our health.
From Slate ● Jul. 12, 2026
The Chicago-born pontiff has made the defence of migrants one of the pillars of his papacy, like his predecessor, Francis, praising those who help the needy and decrying mass deportations in the United States.
From Barron's ● Jul. 4, 2026
Even General Smuts realized the dangers of this harsh ideology, decrying apartheid as “a crazy concept, born of prejudice and fear.”
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
