deprecate
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deprecate
express disapproval of; deplore, belittle, denounce, condemn: deprecate a criminal
Not to be confused with:
depreciate – lessen the value or price of; downgrade, disparage, minimize: depreciate a car
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree
dep·re·cate
(dĕp′rĭ-kāt′)tr.v. de·pre·cat·ed, de·pre·cat·ing, de·pre·cates
1. To express disapproval of; deplore.
2. To belittle; depreciate.
3. Computers To mark (a component of a software standard) as obsolete to warn against its use in the future so that it may be phased out.
[Latin dēprecārī, dēprecāt-, to ward off by prayer : dē-, de- + precārī, to pray; see prek- in Indo-European roots.]
dep′re·cat′ing·ly adv.
dep′re·ca′tion n.
dep′re·ca′tor n.
Usage Note: Deprecate originally meant "to pray in order to ward off something, ward off by prayer." Perhaps because the occasion of such prayers was invariably one of dread, the word developed the more general meaning of disapproval, as in this quotation from Frederick Douglass: "Those who profess to favor freedom, yet deprecate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground." From here it was a small step to add the meaning "to make little of, disparage," which was once the proper meaning of depreciate. This meaning of depreciate appears to have been overwhelmed by the word's use in the world of finances, where it means "to diminish (or cause to diminish) in price or value." In similar fashion, the "disparage" sense of deprecate may be driving out the word's other uses. In our 2002 survey, only 50 percent of the Usage Panel accepted deprecate when it meant "to express disapproval of" in the sentence He advocates a well-designed program of behavior modification and deprecates the early use of medication to address behavioral problems. Moreover, a similar example in the same survey elicited the same split in opinion among Panelists: He acknowledged that some students had been wronged by the board's handling of the matter and deprecated the board's decision to intervene. It seems clear, then, that the Panel has very mixed feelings about the use of deprecate to mean "disapprove of." But a great majority of Panelists accept deprecate when used to mean "make little of, disparage." Fully 78 percent accepted the example He deprecated his own contribution to the success of the project, claiming that others had done just as much. It may be that the widespread use of the word in the compound adjective self-deprecating has helped bolster this use of the verb.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
deprecate
(ˈdɛprɪˌkeɪt)vb (tr)
1. to express disapproval of; protest against
2. to depreciate (a person, someone's character, etc); belittle
3. archaic to try to ward off by prayer
[C17: from Latin dēprecārī to avert, ward off by entreaty, from de- + precārī to pray]
ˈdepreˌcating adj
ˈdepreˌcatingly adv
ˌdepreˈcation n
ˈdeprecative adj
ˈdeprecatively adv
ˈdepreˌcator n
Usage: Avoid confusion with depreciate
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014
dep•re•cate
(ˈdɛp rɪˌkeɪt)v.t. -cat•ed, -cat•ing.
1. to express earnest disapproval of.
2. to depreciate; belittle.
[1615–25; < Latin dēprecātus, past participle of dēprecārī to beg relief from, deprecate =dē- de- + precārī to pray]
dep′re•cat`ing•ly, adv.
dep`re•ca′tion, n.
dep′re•ca`tor, n.
syn: See decry.
usage: The most current sense of deprecate is “to express disapproval of.” In a sense development still occasionally criticized, deprecate has come to be synonymous with the similar but etymologically unrelated word depreciate in the sense “belittle”: He deprecated the importance of his work. In self- compounds, deprecate has almost totally replaced depreciate in modern usage: She charmed them with a self-deprecating account of her career.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
deprecate
Past participle: deprecated
Gerund: deprecating
Imperative |
---|
deprecate |
deprecate |
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Switch to new thesaurus
Verb | 1. | deprecate - express strong disapproval of; deplore disapprove, reject - deem wrong or inappropriate; "I disapprove of her child rearing methods" |
2. | deprecate - belittle; "The teacher should not deprecate his student's efforts" |
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
deprecate
verb
1. disapprove of, condemn, object to, protest against, deplore, frown on, take exception to He deprecated this unseemly behaviour.
2. disparage, criticize, run down, discredit, scorn, deride, detract, malign, denigrate, belittle, vilify, depreciate, knock (informal), diss (slang, chiefly U.S.), bad-mouth (slang, chiefly U.S. & Canad.), lambast(e), flame (informal) They deprecate him and refer to him as 'a bit of a red'. see depreciate
Collins Thesaurus of the English Language – Complete and Unabridged 2nd Edition. 2002 © HarperCollins Publishers 1995, 2002
deprecate
verb1. To have or express an unfavorable opinion of:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005
deprecate
vt (form) → missbilligen
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995