denigrate

[den-i-greyt]

verb (used with object)

denigrated, denigrating 

1. to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame.

   to denigrate someone's character.

   Synonyms: vilify, disparage, traduce, slander, besmirch, malign

2. to treat or represent as lacking in value or importance; belittle; disparage.

   to denigrate someone's contributions to a project.

3. Archaic.,  to make black; darken.

   rain clouds denigrating the sky.

denigrate

/ ˈdɛnɪˌɡreɪt /

verb

1. (tr) to belittle or disparage the character of; defame

2. a rare word for blacken

Other Word Forms

• denigration noun
• denigrative adjective
• denigrator noun
• denigratory adjective
• self-denigrating adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of denigrate¹

First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin dēnigrātus (past participle of dēnigrāre “to blacken”), equivalent to dē- de- + nigr(āre) “to make black” + -ātus -ate ¹

Word History and Origins

Origin of denigrate¹

C16: from Latin dēnigrāre to make very black, defame, from nigrāre to blacken, from niger black

Synonym Study

See decry.

Example Sentences

Our America recoils from people who push their religious beliefs on others, or who denigrate women and other citizens who happen to be unlike them.

Read more on Salon

Yet in almost Cooperian fashion, “Irascible” goes out of its way to denigrate Richardson—an approach that sits awkwardly with Richardson’s formidable record of art scholarship, including his four-volume “A Life of Picasso.”

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

But that nomination was pulled from consideration in the Senate after Ingrassia’s association with neo-Nazis and history of denigrating federal workers was exposed.

Read more on Salon

Four years later, at the National Museum of African American History and Culture, all nuance was gone; the version of Jefferson on display became a denigrating demonstration of hypocrisy.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

What he didn’t say was that the skepticism was promoted by Kennedy and other anti-vaxxers denigrating the technology; a competent and responsible NIH chief would be defending a technological innovation, not magnifying disinformation about it.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• besmirch 
• defame 
• disparage 
• impugn 
• slander 
• vilify