deprecate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to express earnest disapproval of.
The physician’s committee moved to deprecate the standard American diet.
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to urge reasons against; protest against (a scheme, purpose, etc.).
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to depreciate; belittle.
How can companies redress the experiences of marginalized team members whose voices are being deprecated in the workplace?
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Computers. to cease supporting or recommending the use of (older elements, features, or versions of software).
The publisher deprecates products after five years or if more than two more recent versions are available.
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Archaic. to pray for deliverance from.
verb
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to express disapproval of; protest against
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to depreciate (a person, someone's character, etc); belittle
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archaic to try to ward off by prayer
Commonly Confused
See depreciate
Synonym Usage
See decry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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deprecationnoun
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deprecatornoun
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deprecatingadjective
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deprecativeadjective
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half-deprecatingadjective
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nondeprecatingadjective
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undeprecatingadjective
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deprecatinglyadverb
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deprecativelyadverb
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half-deprecatinglyadverb
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nondeprecatinglyadverb
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undeprecatinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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deprecatesimple
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deprecatessimple
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have deprecatedperfect
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has deprecatedperfect
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am deprecatingprogressive
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are deprecatingprogressive
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is deprecatingprogressive
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have been deprecatingperfect progressive
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has been deprecatingperfect progressive
Past
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deprecatedsimple
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had deprecatedperfect
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was deprecatingprogressive
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were deprecatingprogressive
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had been deprecatingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of deprecate
First recorded in 1615–25; from Latin dēprecātus “prayed against, warded off” (past participle of dēprecārī ), equivalent to dē- “away from, out of“ + precārī “to pray” + -ātus past participle suffix; see de-, pray, -ate 1
Explanation
To deprecate is to show disapproval or to make someone feel unimportant by speaking to them disrespectfully, like seniors who deprecate younger students just for fun. To deprecate is to diminish, or to oppose, like when someone deprecates your dream of climbing Mt. Everest by calling it "a little walk up a hill." Some people deprecate themselves, which is called being self-deprecating. People who are self-deprecating downplay their abilities because they are humble — or want to appear that way. So if you do climb Everest and you are self-deprecating, you'll say it wasn't such a big deal, even if it was the proudest moment of your life.
Vocabulary lists containing deprecate
Frankenstein
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Abraham Lincoln's Second Inaugural Address (1865)
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Grade 12, List 6
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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:
“I therefore deprecate attempts to expound Wittgenstein’s thought as a finished thing.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 18, 2025
It is easy to deprecate the single phrase inscribed atop the entrance to our courthouse by conceptualizing it as a mere platitude.
From Slate ● Jun. 20, 2025
A lot of people don’t know that world, so I’m going to have to introduce myself to them and then self-deprecate enough to earn the opportunity to then deprecate them.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 2, 2025
“Why? Because those algorithmic systems precisely are designed like a great, sort of giant spam filter to identify and deprecate and downgrade bad content.”
From Washington Post ● Oct. 12, 2021
As soon as the citizens heard of this design they sent an embassy to the Crusaders to deprecate it.
From A History of The Inquisition of The Middle Ages; volume I by Lea, Henry Charles
He regularly deprecates himself with a dry wit.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 18, 2023
On the one hand, he deprecates the continuities between the twentieth-century cults and the more improvisatory autocrats of our day.
From The New Yorker ● Dec. 16, 2019
However, it is specified that the Speaker "deprecates personal remarks about other Members".
From BBC ● Dec. 21, 2018
Conversely, she is deeply interested in how contemporary culture feeds on and deprecates female vulnerability and pain.
From Slate ● Feb. 24, 2017
It is a strange thing to say that Edmund Spenser, who so deprecates their “rebellious” love of liberty, might well have envied the position and influence of the Irish poets.
From The Revival of Irish Literature Addresses by Sir Charles Gavan Duffy, K.C.M.G, Dr. George Sigerson, and Dr. Douglas Hyde by Duffy, Charles Gavan
“Blocking public posts makes no sense. It needs to be deprecated in favor of a stronger form of mute,” Mr. Musk tweeted.
From Washington Times ● Jun. 8, 2023
The current Meet app will be called “Meet Original,” and eventually deprecated.
From The Verge ● Jun. 1, 2022
As ronsmith7’s Reddit post mentioned, the number of citations to the Daily Mail on Wikipedia has decreased dramatically in the three years since the publication was deprecated.
From Slate ● Jul. 1, 2021
In an article for the national tabloid Expressen, Engdahl deprecated the vulgarity of his opponents in the academy, and called them “a clique of bad losers … who plotted to wound and humiliate Katarina Frostenson”.
From The Guardian ● Jul. 17, 2018
All these things are to be deprecated, are to be spoken against; but we must not hint, provided we are lovers of the Republic, that such things are caused by free institutions.
From The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll, Vol. 7 (of 12) Dresden Edition?Discussions by Ingersoll, Robert Green
His own company SpaceX, he now says, despite previously deprecating the moon, will focus on developing a “self-growing city” there “in less than 10 years.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 10, 2026
It’s niche, yes, but the folks interested in that niche are passionate about it, despite the deprecating memes.
From Slate ● Oct. 10, 2024
As early as 1989, Gaines had conceived of a show that would juxtapose powerful contemporary work by Black Americans with deprecating excerpts by art critics, highlighting the profound mismeasure of these artists’ achievements.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
"Funny, self deprecating, sharp, charming, strong, honest and a fantastic listener. His legacy is enormous."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2023
“It just occurred to me you might be interested,” he would say with a deprecating little laugh whenever he produced a new fragment.
From "1984" by George Orwell
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.
