denigrate
Americanverb (used with object)
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to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner; sully; defame.
to denigrate someone's character.
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to treat or represent as lacking in value or importance; belittle; disparage.
to denigrate someone's contributions to a project.
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Archaic. to make black; darken.
rain clouds denigrating the sky.
verb
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(tr) to belittle or disparage the character of; defame
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a rare word for blacken
Synonym Usage
See decry.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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denigrationnoun
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denigratornoun
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denigrativeadjective
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denigratoryadjective
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self-denigratingadjective
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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denigratesimple
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denigratessimple
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have denigratedperfect
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has denigratedperfect
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am denigratingprogressive
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are denigratingprogressive
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is denigratingprogressive
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have been denigratingperfect progressive
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has been denigratingperfect progressive
Past
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denigratedsimple
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had denigratedperfect
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was denigratingprogressive
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were denigratingprogressive
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had been denigratingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of denigrate
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
Explanation
To denigrate is to say bad things — true or false — about a person or thing. Your reputation as a math whiz might be hurt if your jealous classmate manages to denigrate you, even though the accusations are unfounded. The verb denigrate comes from the Latin word denigrare, which means “to blacken.” To sully or defame someone’s reputation, or to spread negative or hurtful information about a company or a situation, is to denigrate it. Your neighbors may denigrate your proposal for mandatory recycling in an attempt to stop your plan. Denigrate can also mean that you're making something seem less important, like when your brother tries to denigrate your athletic achievements.
Vocabulary lists containing denigrate
300 Most Difficult "SAT" Words
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Vocabulary from the Second Presidential Debate: October 9, 2016
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This Week in Words: December 1 - 7 , 2018
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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:
Altman’s November 2019 email also told the board that Dario agreed “not to denigrate projects he doesn’t believe in that others want to bet on.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 2026
After a week of hearing various US officials denigrate Europe, its leaders and its regulations at Davos, ECB chief Christine Lagarde said Friday that the harsh words could be just what the continent needed.
From Barron's ● Jan. 23, 2026
Netflix didn’t just become HBO—it won HBO, and will now denigrate the quality of that house in the process while swallowing up another formidable competitor.
From Slate ● Dec. 5, 2025
None of this is to denigrate Townsend, whose passion for the job is questioned only by those who don't know him.
From BBC ● Nov. 20, 2025
And they don’t denigrate that person—they honor her.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
A spokesperson for the ASA said: "We've received a complaint about a Nationwide ad. The complainant argues that the ad is misleading around other banks closing branches, and discredits and denigrates its competitors."
From BBC ● Feb. 9, 2024
“It denigrates the millions of victims of the Shoah in a despicable manner,” the council’s president, Josef Schuster, said, using the Hebrew name for the Holocaust.
From Seattle Times ● Aug. 29, 2023
“We do not believe that this depiction harms or denigrates the Jewish community,” the committee said Tuesday in a statement to The Times.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 22, 2023
“I think anything that denigrates other people, I have to respectfully decline,” she said.
From Washington Times ● Jul. 29, 2021
There are people and communities I want to see celebrated in a world that denigrates them.
From Salon ● Sep. 12, 2020
Caesar denigrated situation comedies as soap operas with laughs added.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 14, 2025
Kennedy, who has denigrated vaccines over the years, did not elaborate on the rationale for altering the recommendation for pregnant women in the 58-second video.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2025
He compared Badenoch's approach to that of her predecessor, Rishi Sunak - the UK's first prime minister of Indian heritage - as "a brilliant young man" who "never denigrated his nation of ancestry".
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2024
By the mid-20th-century, however, leading behavioral theorists denigrated the idea of studying animal emotions since, even if they existed, they were scientifically unmeasurable and unverifiable.
From Science Daily ● Nov. 14, 2024
I know my parents had their reasons to raise us without religion, but it still upsets me to hear my grandmother's peaceful beliefs denigrated.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
The speculation, she says, is "denigrating to their memories".
From BBC ● Apr. 23, 2026
The “Mandalorian” actor was fired by Disney in 2021 for “her social media posts denigrating people based on their cultural and religious identities” that the company called “abhorrent and unacceptable.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2026
In the lead up to the Super Bowl, boosters of traditional sportsbooks have been denigrating prediction markets.
From Barron's ● Feb. 6, 2026
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.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2025
“You’ll learn, young brotha. You’ll learn. The Europeans succeeded in denigrating and enslaving peoples of African descent, but there’s royal blood flowing through your veins, you hear me?”
From "Dear Martin" by Nic Stone
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.
