denigrate

English

Etymology

From Latin dēnigrātus, the past participle of dēnigrāre (“to blacken”), from dē + nigrare (“to blacken”) (from niger (“black”)).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈdɛn.ɪ.ɡɹeɪt/

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Verb

denigrate (third-person singular simple present denigrates, present participle denigrating, simple past and past participle denigrated)

1. (transitive) To criticise so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.
   • 1963 January, “Beyond the Channel: U.S.S.R.”, in Modern Railways, page 62:

     Although in public Soviet officials tend to denigrate the French electric locomotives imported recently, there is little doubt that lessons learnt from these engines will be incorporated in new Russian designs.

2. (transitive) To treat as worthless; belittle, degrade or disparage.

   You have no right to denigrate people and things that you have no personal experience with.

3. (rare) To blacken.

Derived terms

• denigration
• denigratory

Translations

References

• “denigrate”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–2022.

Anagrams

• antigreed, dinergate, giant reed, gratineed, gratinéed

Italian

Verb

denigrate

1. second-person plural present and imperative of denigrare

Anagrams

• adergenti, gradiente

Spanish

Verb

denigrate

1. second-person singular voseo imperative of denigrar combined with te