discredit
verb · noun
Simple meaning
To make someone or something seem less believable.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
dihskrehduhtSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
dɪskˈɹɛdət
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
transitive
To harm the good reputation of (a person).
Damage the reputation of
“This newspaper story discredits the politicians.”
Reject as false; refuse to accept
transitive
To cause (an idea or piece of evidence) to seem false or unreliable.
noun
uncountable
The state of being discredited or disbelieved.
countable
A person or thing that causes harm to a reputation, as of a person, family, or institution.
The state of being held in low esteem
“Your actions will bring discredit to your name.”
uncountable
A degree of dishonour or disesteem; ill repute; reproach.
countable or uncountable
Discrediting or disbelieving.
Word at a Glance
- Difficulty
- C2 · Proficient
- Frequency
- Uncommon
- Typical Use
- Primarily written
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: To harm the good reputation of (a person).
Used this way, discredit is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Moderate
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
How It’s Used
The word’s distinct uses, one example each.
Damageverb
“This newspaper story discredits the politicians.”
Heldnoun
“Your actions will bring discredit to your name.”
More ways to use discredit
- “This newspaper story discredits the politicians.”verb
- “The paper discredited the politician with its nasty commentary.”verb
- “Your actions will bring discredit to your name.”noun
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Common Patterns and Combinations
How this word naturally appears with others.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: being discredited or disbelieved
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.