delegitimize

Verb

delegitimize (third-person singular simple present delegitimizes, present participle delegitimizing, simple past and past participle delegitimized)

1. (transitive) To make something less legitimate.
   • Iran could not be happier. The more Israel sinks into the West Bank, the more it is delegitimized and isolated, the more the world focuses on Israel’s colonialism rather than Iran’s nuclear enrichment, the more people call for a single democratic state in all of historic Palestine.2014 May 4, Thomas L. Friedman, “Sheldon: Iran’s Best Friend”, in The New York Times
   • As that campaign seeks to do, fighting ISIS means delegitimizing Caliphism at home and abroad.2016, Steve Hilton, More Human: Designing a World Where People Come First

   Synonyms:

   delegitimate

2. (transitive) To make something illegal that was previously legal.

   Synonyms:

   delegitimate, criminalize, illegalize