disparagement

noun

as in defamation
the act of making a person or a thing seem little or unimportant his predictable disparagement of the latest fashions among young people

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of disparagement That growth has been accompanied by disparagement from some sports fans, who gripe about the company’s scale and the quality of its products. — Michael McCann, Sportico.com, 30 Sep. 2026 Iamaleava could have allowed the disparagement to compound, but the starting signal-caller is using it as fuel for a 2026 season where many have the Bruins painted as a potential dark horse. — Connor Dullinger, Los Angeles Times, 20 Aug. 2026 Her mother, meanwhile, is backed up by her second husband (Kwon), a mild-mannered documentary filmmaker whose profession gives his wife yet more ammunition in her smiling disparagement of Sanghee. — Guy Lodge, Variety, 15 Aug. 2026 These disparagements cut to the core of southern manhood. — Rob Wolfe, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026 And the Times Magazine suggested the idea of discovering a similar past disparagement clause to the one that plagued HBO might dissuade any network from tackling a future Jackson project. — Steve Knopper, Rolling Stone, 22 Apr. 2026 And though Chalamet did not make such insults himself, his comments fit into this broader context of disparagement and dismissal. — Chloe Angyal, Time, 9 Mar. 2026 As February ended, some of the things coming out of the coaches’ mouths felt more like despair than disparagement. — Joe Rexrode, New York Times, 4 Mar. 2026 But in both cases, although separated by six decades, condemnation, disparagement and misogyny soon followed. — Aniko Bodroghkozy, The Conversation, 24 Feb. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for disparagement
  1. defamation
  2. criticism
  3. denigration
  4. condemnation
  5. depreciation
  6. abuse
  7. detraction
  8. belittlement
Noun
  • Carlson called on Fox News Media Chief Executive Suzanne Scott to fire Heinrich in a text that came to light three years later when Dominion Voting System filed its defamation suit against the network.
    — Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Times, 5 Oct. 2026
  • Envita answered through a spokesman — and also sent me a letter from its lawyer, threatening a defamation action against this publication.
    — Trisha Thadani Kirsten Potter Tanya Pérez Devin Murphy, New York Times, 4 Oct. 2026
Definition of defamation
Noun
  • The decision has also drawn criticism from Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
    — Marlow Stern, Variety, 11 Oct. 2026
  • The conclusions are non-binding and face criticism, and the ultimate approval is up to the judge.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 10 Oct. 2026
Definition of criticism
Noun
  • Freedom, mobility; who gets to be an artist; style, ornamentation, artifice; work, leisure; the counterculture; the denigration of femininity; West Coast oddballism.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 15 Sep. 2026
  • For me, this marks an early moment in the denigration of women.
    — Eana Kim, ARTnews.com, 27 Apr. 2026
Definition of denigration
Noun
  • The film is admirably committed to documenting this lifestyle without much idealization or condemnation.
    — Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The comments drew swift condemnation from California leaders, even as the White House communications director, Steven Cheung, insisted the president’s remarks had been taken out of context.
    — Ana Ceballos, Los Angeles Times, 8 Oct. 2026
Definition of condemnation
Noun
  • The Albanian Manufacturing Association warned this week that nearly 150 garment factories have closed and roughly 25,000 jobs have been lost in recent years amid declining exports, high production costs, labor shortages and the euro’s depreciation.
    — Jasmin Malik Chua, Footwear News, 9 Oct. 2026
  • Corporations also benefit from the One Big Beautiful Bill Act with their tax rates decreasing from 35% to 21% and even down to 15% when depreciation deductions were added.
    — Dr. Michael Good, Hartford Courant, 28 Sep. 2026
Definition of depreciation
Noun
  • Men shouted abuse from car windows or tried to bribe him with money, drugs, even girlfriends.
    — Robb Report, Robb Report, 9 Oct. 2026
  • The department said ALPRs have led to the arrests of suspects in cases of homicide, theft, child abuse, burglary and among other crimes.
    — Kendrick Calfee, Kansas City Star, 9 Oct. 2026
Definition of abuse
Noun
  • This move by Torras signals a broader cultural shift where the utility of a device is no longer seen as a detraction from its style.
    — Footwear News, Footwear News, 18 Mar. 2026
  • Agreeing with Kruse, Commissioner Tal Siddique cited the lack of commercial land as his main detraction for the project.
    — Miami Herald, Miami Herald, 24 Feb. 2026
Definition of detraction
Noun
  • During Season 10, a newly confident Batula — who seemed to despise Cooke from the first minute of the premiere episode — appeared to be poised to launch a triumphant post-divorce arc, free at last from Cooke’s belittlement and verbal abuse.
    — Kate Aurthur, Variety, 29 June 2026
  • Apolline may embrace the social media aspects of her career but George’s belittlement rankles her.
    — Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2025
Definition of belittlement

Browse Nearby Words

disparaged
disparagement
disparagements
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Disparagement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/disparagement. Accessed 11 Oct. 2026.

Copy Citation
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of galore

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Exceptions of '-s' and '-es' Plurals

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

Is it 'nerve-racking' or 'nerve-wracking'?

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

7 Words for Bad Endings and Rough Situations

The Words of the Week - Oct. 9

Even More Bird Names that Sound Like Insults (and Sometimes Are)
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

The Real Origin of 'Supercalifragilistic'

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
a cup of tea and a golf ball on tee side by side
Quiz: Sounds Like... Choose the word that sounds like it fits the clue...
See All