Link Centre Dictionary

denigrate

de·nig·rate

UK/ˈden.ə.ɡɹæɪ̯t/ US/ˈdɛn.ɪ.ɡɹeɪ̯t/ uncommon rare

verb

1.
2.

charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone

  • “The journalists have defamed me!”
  • “The article in the paper sullied my reputation”
Synonyms

Origin

Derived from Latin dēnigrātus, the perfect passive participle of dēnigrō (“to blacken”) [see -ate (verb-forming suffix)], from dē- (“of; from”) + nigrō (“to blacken”) [from niger (“black”)]. Cognate with Middle English denigart(e) (“darkened, discolored”).

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.