denigrate
verb /ˈdenɪɡreɪt/
/ˈdenɪɡreɪt/
(formal)Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they denigrate | /ˈdenɪɡreɪt/ /ˈdenɪɡreɪt/ |
| he / she / it denigrates | /ˈdenɪɡreɪts/ /ˈdenɪɡreɪts/ |
| past simple denigrated | /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪd/ /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪd/ |
| past participle denigrated | /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪd/ /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪd/ |
| -ing form denigrating | /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪŋ/ /ˈdenɪɡreɪtɪŋ/ |
- denigrate somebody/something to criticize somebody/something unfairly; to say somebody/something does not have any value or is not important synonym belittle
- I didn't intend to denigrate her achievements.
Word Originlate Middle English (in the sense ‘blacken, make dark’): from Latin denigrat- ‘blackened’, from the verb denigrare, from de- ‘away, completely’ + nigrare (from niger ‘black’).