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
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.
“For years I have had to relive some of the hardest moments of my life while facing attempts to shame, humiliate and discredit me in open court,” Mann continued.
From Los Angeles Times • May 15, 2026
After subsequently failing in court to discredit Beth, MI5 recently offered to pay compensation to settle her claim.
From BBC • Mar. 17, 2026
He was suspended from his army job, with Defence Minister Guido Crosetto -- a member of Meloni's party -- saying that his "personal ramblings... discredit the army, the defence ministry and the constitution".
From Barron's • Mar. 6, 2026
Anna Sale: When news came out about your tattoo—the skull-and-crossbones design that resembles Nazi imagery—you said it was fed from people researching your background who wanted to discredit you.
From Slate • Mar. 4, 2026
Gwentshe knew how to exploit certain issues in order to discredit his opponents.
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.
