menoscabar

From Vulgar Latin *minuscapāre.

• Hyphenation: me‧nos‧ca‧bar

menoscabar (first-person singular present menoscabo, first-person singular preterite menoscabei, past participle menoscabado)

1. (transitive) to turn incomplete or imperfect
2. (transitive, figuratively) to discredit, to disbelieve
3. (transitive) to despise, to scorn, to look down on

   Synonyms: desprezar, menosprezar

From menos +‎ cabo +‎ -ar.

• IPA^(key): /menoskaˈbaɾ/
• Rhymes: -aɾ
• Syllabification: me‧nos‧ca‧bar

menoscabar (first-person singular present menoscabo, first-person singular preterite menoscabé, past participle menoscabado)

1. to lessen

   menoscabar su premio

   reduce their reward

2. to sully; to mutilate
3. to undermine

   menoscabar su poder

   subvert their power

   • 1908, Benito Pérez Galdós, España trágica, chapter 6:

     Sin menoscabar el respeto que a su buen padrastro debía [...]

     Without undermining the respect owed to their good stepfather

   • 2014, Cristina Morató, Reinas malditas:

     El soberano se había convertido en un monarca constitucional con poder limitado, pues los hechos de Varennes habían menoscabado su autoridad.

     The sovereign had become a constitutional monarch with limited power, since the events of Varennes had undermined his authority.

• socavar

• “menoscabar”, 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