Denigrate is a verb meaning to attack someone's reputation or deny the importance of something. The term comes from the Latin 'denigrare', meaning 'to blacken', reflecting the idea of smearing reputation.
Denigrate es un verbo que significa atacar la reputación de alguien o negar la importancia de algo. El término proviene del latín "denigrare", que significa "ennegrecer", reflejando la idea de manchar la reputación.
| Word | denigrate |
|---|---|
| Date | October 22, 2007 |
| Type | verb |
| Syllables | DEN-ih-grayt |
| Etymology | If you "denigrate" someone, you attempt to blacken their reputation. It makes sense, therefore, that "denigrate" can be traced back to the Latin verb "denigrare," meaning "to blacken." When "denigrate" was first used in English in the 16th century, it meant to cast aspersions on someone's character or reputation. Eventually, it developed a second sense of "to make black" ("factory smoke denigrated the sky"), but this sense is somewhat rare in modern usage. Nowadays, of course, "denigrate" can also refer to belittling the worth or importance of someone or something. *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
| Examples | Although some medical experts denigrate the new technology, others believe that the experimental results have been quite promising. |
| Definition | 1 : to attack the reputation of : defame 2 : to deny the importance or validity of : belittle |
Tags: wordoftheday::verb
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