| denigration | (n) a belittling comment, Syn. belittling |
| aspersion | (n) an abusive attack on a person's character or good name, Syn. denigration, defamation, calumny, slander |
| calumniatory | (adj) (used of statements) harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign, Syn. calumnious, denigrating, defamatory, denigratory, libellous, libelous, denigrative, slanderous |
| defame | (v) charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone, Syn. denigrate, asperse, slander, smear, besmirch, smirch, calumniate, sully, Example: The journalists have defamed me!; The article in the paper sullied my reputation |
| deprecation | (n) the act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself), Syn. denigration |
| minimize | (v) cause to seem less serious; play down, Syn. derogate, denigrate, belittle, Example: Don't belittle his influence |
| Denigrate | v. t. [ L. denigrare; de- + nigrare to blacken, niger black. ] 1. To blacken thoroughly; to make very black. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Fig.: To blacken or sully; to defame. [ R. ] [ 1913 Webster ] To denigrate the memory of Voltaire. Morley. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| denigrating | adj. harmful and often untrue; tending to discredit or malign; -- used of statements.
Syn. -- calumniatory, calumnious, defamatory, denigrative, libellous, libelous, slanderous. [ WordNet 1.5 ] |
| Denigration | n. [ L. denigratio. ] 1. The act of making black. Boyle. [ 1913 Webster ] 2. Fig.: A blackening; defamation. [ 1913 Webster ] The vigorous denigration of science. Morley. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| Denigrator | n. One who, or that which, blackens. [ 1913 Webster ] |
| denigratory | a. same as denigrating. [ PJC ] |
