| Main Entry: | |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | belittle, ridicule |
| Synonyms: | abuse, asperse, attack, calumniate, censure, clamor against, condemn, contemn, decry, defame, denigrate, denounce, deprecate, deride, derogate, detract, discount, discountenance, discredit, disgrace, disparage, dispraise, fault, find fault with, humble, knock, look down on, lower, malign, minimize, put down, rap, revile, roast, run down, scoff at, scorn, slam, slander, slight, slur, smear, sneer at, spurn, take down a peg, traduce, underestimate, underrate, undervalue, vilify |
| Antonyms: | approve, commend, compliment, exalt, laud, praise, recommend |
| Main Entry: | depress |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | devalue |
| Synonyms: | cheapen, debase, depreciate, diminish, downgrade, impair, lessen, lower, reduce |
| Antonyms: | increase, raise |
| Main Entry: | depress |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | push down |
| Synonyms: | couch, demit, dip, droop, flatten, let down, level, lower, press down, settle, sink, smoosh, squash |
| Antonyms: | push up, raise, uplift |
| Main Entry: | deteriorate |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | decay, degenerate |
| Synonyms: | adulterate, alloy, be worse for wear, become worse, break, corrode, corrupt, crumble, debase, debilitate, decline, decompose, degrade, deprave, depreciate, descend, disimprove, disintegrate, ebb, fade, fail, fall apart, flag, go downhill, go to pieces, go to pot, go to the dogs, hit the skids, impair, injure, languish, lapse, lessen, lose it, lose quality, lower, mar, pervert, regress, retrograde, retrogress, rot, sink, skid, slide, spoil, undermine, vitiate, weaken, wear away, worsen |
| Notes: | to degenerate means 'to decline in value, move lower on a scale' but to deteriorate means 'to worsen, to become lowered, or be reduced in value'; degenerate pertains more to character and virtue while deteriorate is more about loss of strength or vitality |
| Antonyms: | build, construct, develop, get better, improve |
| Main Entry: | detract |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | take away a part; lessen |
| Synonyms: | backbite, belittle, blister, cheapen, cut rate, decrease, decry, depreciate, derogate, devaluate, diminish, discount, discredit, disesteem, draw away, knock*, laugh at, lower, minimize, misprize, reduce, subtract from, underrate, undervalue, vilipend, withdraw, write off |
| Antonyms: | add to, increase, optimize |
| Main Entry: | devalue |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | depreciate |
| Synonyms: | cheapen, cut rate, debase, decrease, decry, devalorize, devaluate, knock off, lower, mark down, nose dive, revalue, take down, underrate, undervalue, write down, write off |
| Antonyms: | increase, overvalue, raise |
| Main Entry: | dim |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | darken; obscure |
| Synonyms: | becloud, bedim, befog, blear, blur, cloud, dull, eclipse, fade, fog, haze, lower, muddy, obfuscate, pale, tarnish, turn down |
| Antonyms: | brighten, lighten |
| Main Entry: | diminish |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | become or cause to be less |
| Synonyms: | abate, abbreviate, attenuate, become smaller, close, contract, curtail, cut, decline, decrease, depreciate, die out, drain, dwindle, ebb, extenuate, fade away, lessen, lower, minify, moderate, peter out, recede, reduce, retrench, shrink, shrivel, slacken, subside, taper, temper, wane, weaken |
| Antonyms: | develop, enlarge, expand, extend, grow, increase, lengthen, prolong |
| Main Entry: | dip |
| Part of Speech: | verb |
| Definition: | put into liquid |
| Synonyms: | baptize, bathe, douse, drench, duck, dunk, immerse, irrigate, lave, lower, moisten, pitch, plunge, rinse, slop, slosh, soak, souse, splash, steep, submerge, submerse, wash, water, wet |