discredit

American  

[dis-kred-it] / dɪsˈkrɛd ɪt /

verb (used with object)

• discredits,
  present (3rd person singular)
• discredited,
  past participle,  past
• discrediting
  present participle

1. to injure the credit or reputation of; defame.

   an effort to discredit honest politicians.

   Synonyms:

   undermine, tarnish, disgrace, disparage

2. to show to be undeserving of trust or belief; destroy confidence in.

   Later research discredited earlier theories.

3. to give no credence to; disbelieve.

   There was good reason to discredit the witness.

---

noun

1. loss or lack of belief or confidence; disbelief; distrust.

   His theories met with general discredit.

2. loss or lack of repute or esteem; disrepute.

3. something that damages a good reputation.

   This behavior will be a discredit to your good name.

discredit British  

/ dɪsˈkrɛdɪt /

verb

1. to damage the reputation of

2. to cause to be disbelieved or distrusted

3. to reject as untrue or of questionable accuracy

---

noun

1. a person, thing, or state of affairs that causes disgrace

2. damage to a reputation

3. lack of belief or confidence

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• undiscredited
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Participles

• discrediting
  present
• discredited
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• discredit
  simple
• discredits
  simple
• have discredited
  perfect
• has discredited
  perfect
• am discrediting
  progressive
• are discrediting
  progressive
• is discrediting
  progressive
• have been discrediting
  perfect progressive
• has been discrediting
  perfect progressive

Past

• discredited
  simple
• had discredited
  perfect
• was discrediting
  progressive
• were discrediting
  progressive
• had been discrediting
  perfect progressive

Future

• will discredit
  simple
• will have discredited
  perfect
• will be discrediting
  progressive
• will have been discrediting
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of discredit

First recorded in 1550–60; dis- ¹ + credit

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.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

discredit discredits discredited discrediting

If confirmed that the test results were those of Maradona's father, however, it could discredit the medical commission set up to evaluate the circumstances of Maradona's death, boosting the defence.

From Barron's ● Aug. 20, 2026

Without Khrushchev’s bold move to discredit the previously infallible, semidivine leader, there could have been no “thaw,” as the period he initiated was soon called.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 10, 2026

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

There is ample evidence that pressure has been brought to bear on Ralph Meyers since his trial testimony which could tend to discredit his recantation.

From "Just Mercy" by Bryan Stevenson

“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

The minute they started labeling it with conspiracy theories, it discredits the purity of the work.

From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2023

It was originally thought of as a mark that discredits someone as a person and reduces them to someone who is tainted.

From Seattle Times ● Oct. 22, 2021

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

Murrill is now using that discredited plea deal against Brooks, just as she did in Duncan’s case, in an attempt to quash his compensation claim.

From Salon ● Aug. 10, 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

Rueda dropped the claim in 2024 after Pacquiao’s team discredited it.

From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026

Here, then, is a sampling of predictions, which range from the discredited to pseudoscience to the bizarre.

From Barron's ● Feb. 25, 2026

By giving prestige to the Swiss, he discredited his own troops, for he did away entirely with his foot-soldiers and obliged his cavalry to depend upon the abilities of others.

From "The Prince" by Niccolò Machiavelli

"He was being subjected to relentless scrutiny, including ridicule, discrediting absolutely every detail of his life," Baron-Cohen said.

From Barron's ● Aug. 15, 2026

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

Highgate said in a statement that it had worked on a file in defense of the ICC, but denied it was commissioned by a government entity or aimed at discrediting any individual.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 27, 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

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

Related Words

• defame
• degrade
• destroy
• disgrace
• disparage
• disprove
• ruin
• slander
• smear
• vilify