discredit
Americanverb (used with object)
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discredits,
present (3rd person singular)
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discredited,
past participle, past
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discrediting
present participle
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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
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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discreditsimple
-
discreditssimple
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have discreditedperfect
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has discreditedperfect
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am discreditingprogressive
-
are discreditingprogressive
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is discreditingprogressive
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have been discreditingperfect progressive
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has been discreditingperfect progressive
Past
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discreditedsimple
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had discreditedperfect
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was discreditingprogressive
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were discreditingprogressive
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had been discreditingperfect progressive
Future
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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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:
"They have a reputation for maybe not giving it to people like me... and I think it would be a great discredit to them," Trump said on Wednesday.
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He held particular scorn for the flat-earthers, who he thought were plants to discredit genuine research about extraterrestrial technology.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
Speaking then, Abraham said the reporting for the film, which was produced by the UK's Guardian newspaper, had been "rigorous" and that efforts to discredit it were "attempts to not face reality".
From BBC ● Sep. 14, 2026
Still, with all the aforementioned accomplishments, and decades later, Steinem said that her naysayers used her bunny work in an attempt to discredit her.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 5, 2026
The men got to work examining Ellsberg’s life, looking for anything that would humiliate or discredit him.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
"It's easier for the Russians this way, because it discredits Ukraine in the eyes of our partners and European countries," said Vitaliy Sova, a senior investigator.
From BBC ● Jun. 15, 2026
“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
Justice Minister Marco Buschmann wrote that “violence against people or objects has no place in the political argument! This discredits the cause of many farmers who demonstrate peacefully.”
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 5, 2024
For this reason, Lacreuse said she doesn’t believe that the most recent chimpanzee study discredits the grandmother hypothesis.
From Salon ● Dec. 11, 2023
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
They spoke out after the BBC revealed that more than 260 people had been subjected to the discredited treatment at NHS hospitals in the 1960s and 1970s.
From BBC ● Sep. 17, 2026
After an episode filled with warnings about addiction, government deception, processed food and discredited fats, the meal itself receives one adjective and one bite.
From Salon ● Aug. 5, 2026
One essay defended the gold standard, which had been discredited in the 1930s.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 25, 2026
These measures, enacted by more than half the states, shielded children from a discredited and abusive practice that fails to achieve its aims while inflicting serious, lasting psychological harms.
From Slate ● Mar. 31, 2026
He could leave office in the knowledge that his discredited policies and singular style had worked.
From "Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation" by Joseph J. Ellis
Golden Dawn made a sensational entry into parliament in 2012, in a climate of social distress linked to the financial crisis in Greece, loss of trust in institutions and discrediting of the main political parties.
From Barron's ● Sep. 15, 2026
"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
Presumably intended to be reassuring, the thrust toward near-unanimity instead has become discrediting.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 23, 2026
Jeffries is heard discussing possible defence strategies, such as discrediting witnesses and saying, "these people were adults, there was no force involved", they told the judge.
From BBC ● Mar. 28, 2026
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
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Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
