disparage
part of speech
verb (disparage, disparages, disparaged, disparaging) — formal
meaning for a pupil
(formal) To speak about someone or something in a way that shows you think they are not important or not good; to belittle. tree →
sense in the lessons
A formal exam word. In ethics and school life: disparaging others' work or background is unkind. In news: politicians may disparage opponents. It tells the reader that someone is putting others down. Phrases: «disparage someone's efforts», «not to disparage».
examples
- Don't disparage your sister's drawing — she tried her best. tree →
- The critic disparaged the new film. tree →
- He disparaged his rival's ideas without listening to them. tree →
- It is wrong to disparage people because of where they come from. tree →
- Without wishing to disparage the cook, the soup was cold. tree →
- She never disparages other teams, even when they lose. tree →
- Among the spectators was a Countryman, who disparaged the Clown's performance and announced that he would give a much superior exhibition of the same trick on the following day. tree →
note
Regular verb. Noun: «disparagement». Adjective: «disparaging». Formal; in speech say «put down», «run down», «belittle». Pronounced dis-PARR-ij.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «disparage» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.