desmerecer

From des- +‎ merecer.

desmerecer (first-person singular present desmereço, first-person singular preterite desmereci, past participle desmerecido)

1. to belittle
2. to fade

From des- +‎ merecer.

• IPA^(key): (Spain) /desmeɾeˈθeɾ/
• IPA^(key): (Latin America, Philippines) /desmeɾeˈseɾ/
• Rhymes: -eɾ
• Syllabification: des‧me‧re‧cer

desmerecer (first-person singular present desmerezco, first-person singular preterite desmerecí, past participle desmerecido)

1. to criticize
   • 2020 August 11, “Isla de Annobón la patria chica de Tutu Alicante”, in Guinea Ecuatorial Press‎, archived from the original on 25 April 2021:

     Un grupillo en todo caso exiguo, marginal y desmerecido sin credibilidad ni prestigio alguno para nadie a fecha del año 2020.

     A small group that is in any case meager, marginal, unworthy, and without credibility or any prestige of any kind as of 2020.

2. to belittle; to play down; to downplay

   sin querer desmerecer su importancia

   not wanting to play down its importance

   • 1927, Ricardo Güiraldes, Don Segundo Sombra, chapter XIV:

     y como allí encontraría mucha gente del reñidero, no quería desmerecer la fama adquirida con mis apuestas

     as I'd find many people from the cockfights there, I didn't want to downplaythe fame my bets had acquired

   • 2002, Robert W. Pazmiño, Cuestiones Fundamentales de la Educación Cristiana:

     El énfasis en el currículo escondido no debería desmerecer la preocupación por las dimensiones explícitas y académicas del currículo

     The emphasis on the hidden curriculum should not belittle from concern for the explicit and academic dimensions of the curriculum.

• “desmerecer”, in Diccionario de la lengua española [Dictionary of the Spanish Language] (in Spanish), online version 23.8, Royal Spanish Academy [Spanish: Real Academia Española], 2024 December 10