de·cry
(dĭ-krī́)
[French décrier, from Old French descrier, des-, de-, + crier, to cry; see cry.]
transitive verb: -cried, -cry·ing, -cries.
- To condemn openly.
- To depreciate (currency, for example) by official proclamation or by rumor.
derivatives
- de·críer
- noun
synonyms:
decry, disparage, depreciate, derogate, belittle, minimize, downgrade These verbs mean to think, write, or speak of as being of little value or importance. Decry implies open denunciation or condemnation: A staunch materialist, he decries economy. Disparage often implies the communication of a low opinion by indirection: Many critics disparage psychoanalysis as being a pseudoscience. To depreciate is to assign a lower than customary value to someone or something: Some musicologists depreciate Liszt's compositions. Derogate implies a detraction that impairs: People often derogate what they don't understand. Belittle and minimize mean to make less important, but minimize strongly implies the minimum level: He belittled the child's attempts to draw. She tried to minimize my accomplishment. To downgrade is to minimize in importance or estimation: Her rival downgraded the painting, calling it decorative but superficial.
