belittles

VERB

detract

Synonyms

STRONGEST

criticize decry deride discredit disparage downplay scorn squelch underestimate

STRONG

blister deprecate depreciate derogate diminish discount downgrade knock lower minimize pan rip roast scorch slam smear squash underrate undervalue

WEAK

bad-mouth cut down to size cut to the quick dispraise dump on pooh pooh poor mouth put down run down scoff at shoot down shoot full of holes sneer at sour grapes take a swipe at take down take down a peg tear down write off

Antonyms

STRONGEST

approve commend compliment flatter laud praise

STRONG

enlarge increase overestimate overrate overvalue raise upgrade

WEAK

build up exaggerate value

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"It could also attract vermin into our houses as well as flies and bluebottles."

From BBC • Aug. 22, 2022

As far back as 1937, George Orwell bemoaned the "bearded fruit-juice drinkers who come flocking towards the smell of 'progress' like bluebottles to a dead cat".

From BBC • Oct. 5, 2014

They married in 2007, wearing outfits of "iridescent blue and green" that made them look, in the words of Moore's eldest daughter, like a pair of bluebottles.

From The Guardian • Dec. 15, 2012

Like a neo-Adam, he names the bugs that halo his days: “heavy-hipped houseflies and hairy-chested horseflies, bloated bluebottles, glossy greenbottles.”

From New York Times • Oct. 18, 2010

Ugly, shiny bluebottles darted by me, as if trying to determine whether I was a tasty morsel, too.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda