DENIGRATE

defame, slander, smirch, asperse, denigrate, calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch

(verb) 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”

minimize, belittle, denigrate, derogate

(verb) cause to seem less serious; play down; “Don’t belittle his influence”

Source: WordNet® 3.1

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Etymology

Verb

denigrate (third-person singular simple present denigrates, present participle denigrating, simple past and past participle denigrated)

(transitive) To criticise so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.

(transitive) To treat as worthless; belittle, degrade or disparage.

(rare) To blacken.

Anagrams

• antigreed, dinergate, giant reed, gratinéed

Source: Wiktionary

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Den"i*grate, v. t. Etym: [L. denigrare; de- + nigrare to blacken, niger black.]

1. To blacken thoroughly; to make very black. Boyle.

2. Fig.: To blacken or sully; to defame. [R.] To denigrate the memory of Voltaire. Morley.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition

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