decry
/dɪˈkɹaɪ/
decry verb: to denounce as harmful.
Verb
decry (third-person singular simple present decries, present participle decrying, simple past and past participle decried)
- To denounce as harmful.
- Nothing is more uſual and more natural for thoſe, vvho pretend to diſcover any thing nevv to the vvorld in philoſophy and the ſciences, than to inſinuate the praiſes of their ovvn ſystems, by decrying all thoſe, vvhich have been advanced before them.1739, [David Hume], “Introduction”, in A Treatise of Human Nature: […], book I (Of the Understanding), London: […] John Noon, […], →OCLC
- All of us seem to need some totalistic relationships in our lives. But to decry the fact that we cannot have only such relationships is nonsense.1970, Alvin Toffler, Future Shock: Bantam Books, page 99
- To blame for ills.
decry meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam
decry in Tamil
- குறை கூறு, பயனற்றது என இகழ், கண்டி, வை, இழிவாய்ப் பேசு, அவதூறாய்ப் பேசு
decry in Urdu
- مذمت کرنا, ذمہ دار ٹھہرانا
decry in Bengali
- প্রকাশ্যে কারো, কিছুর নিন্দা, সমালোচনা, অবজ্ঞা করা
decry in Malayalam
- condemn, denounce, criticize
- അപവദിക്കുക, നിന്ദിക്കുക, ആക്ഷേപിക്കുക, ദുഷിക്കുക, കുറ്റപ്പെടുത്തുക, അപലപിക്കുക
More languagesFewer languages
- decry in Kannada
- ಅಲ್ಲಗಳೆ, ಟೀಕಿಸು, ದೂಷಿಸು, ತೆಗಳು
Examples of decry in a sentence
- He calls them "the Anthropocene's battering ram", and decries how they have "dewilded the world".
- Similarly, those doctors who decry the operation as an "unhippocratic" act need not perform it.
- Malaysian voters have become incredibly cynical and jaded, often decrying the presence of cybertroopers as “clouding” public debate.
Forms of decry
| third-person singular present | decries |
|---|---|
| present participle | decrying |
| past participle | decried |
| past | decried |
Origin of decry
C. 1600, from Middle French decrier (“to denigrate; depreciate”), from Old French descrier (“to shout”) (modern décrier). Doublet of descry. The pejorative meaning had not been present in the Middle English loan, but it was present in the French word from at least the 13th century, with a meaning of "to denigrate; depreciate; to announce the depreciation or suppression of a currency", presumably from the interpretation of de- as meaning "down, inferior".
Words formed from decry
Words that rhyme with decry
Questions about decry
- What does decry mean?
- Decry means to denounce as harmful.
- What is decry in Tamil?
- Decry in Tamil is குறை கூறு, பயனற்றது என இகழ், கண்டி. See Decry meaning in Tamil.
- What part of speech is decry?
- Decry is a verb.
- How do you pronounce decry?
- Decry is pronounced /dɪˈkɹaɪ/.
- What is the past tense of decry?
- The past tense of decry is decried.
Words near decry in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: decry (page history and authors); decry (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decry (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decry (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); decry (Olam, E.K. Kurup corpus) (dataset and license); decry (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-decry.wav.
Cite this entry: “decry.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/decry. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.