denigrate

English
WOTD – 28 June 2009

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/
  • Audio (US)(file)
  • Audio (AU)(file)

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.
  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

Translations
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Translations to be checked

Anagrams

Italian

Verb

denigrate

  1. second-person plural present tense and imperative of denigrare

Anagrams
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