- (transitive) to belittle or disparage the character of; defame
- a rare word for blacken
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2026
den•i•grate /ˈdɛnɪˌgreɪt/USA pronunciation
v. [ ~ + obj], -grat•ed, -grat•ing.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2026- to speak damagingly of; degrade the character of:to denigrate someone's character.
den•i•grate
(den′i grāt′),USA pronunciation v.t., -grat•ed, -grat•ing.
den′i•gra′tion, n.
den′i•gra′tive, adj.
den′i•gra′tor, n.
den•i•gra•to•ry
(den′i grə tôr′ē, -tōr′ē),USA pronunciation adj.
- to speak damagingly of; criticize in a derogatory manner;
sully;
defame:to denigrate someone's character. - to treat or represent as lacking in value or importance;
belittle;
disparage:to denigrate someone's contributions to a project. - to make black;
blacken:rain clouds denigrating the sky.
- Latin dēnigrātus (past participle of dēnigrāre to blacken), equivalent. to dē- de- + nigr(āre) to make black + -ātus -ate1
- 1520–30
den′i•gra′tive, adj.
den′i•gra′tor, n.
- 1. malign, besmirch, slander, traduce, disparage, vilify. See decry.
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
denigrate /ˈdɛnɪˌɡreɪt/ vb
'denigrating' also found in these entries (note: many are not synonyms or translations):