detracting
detracting adjective: that detracts. Also the present participle and gerund of detract.
Adjective
detracting (comparative more detracting, superlative most detracting)
- That detracts.
- Neither is there any thing in the condition of the laborer, more taxing to human exertion, more detracting from honorable self-respect, than any other occupation; on the contrary, agriculture, if we reason from realities, and not prejudices, is the truly noble occupation of life.1837, Benjamin Franklin Foster, Education Reform, page 81
- "In vino veritas," properly translated, means—that when a man is fairly under the influence of liquor, you see a strong manifestation of his real character. The vain man is vainer, the voluble, more voluble, the morose, more morose; the passionate, more passionate, the detractor, more detracting...1889, Samuel Warren, Ten Thousand A-year, volume 2, page 19
Noun
detracting (plural detractings)
- detraction; slander
- Emulations, heart-risings, evil jealousies, bitter speakings, detractings, and abundance of evil fruit, arise from this root of bitterness […]1844, Charles Marshall, The Journal: Together with Sundry Epistles and Other Writings
Also used as
detracting is also the present participle and gerund of detract.
Examples of detracting in a sentence
- The vain man is vainer, the voluble, more voluble, the morose, more morose; the passionate, more passionate, the detractor, more detracting; the sycophant, more sycophantic, and so forth.1889, Samuel Warren, Ten Thousand A-year, volume 2, page 19:
- Probably nothing is more detracting and dissatisfying than buying a potted flowering plant which quits flowering as soon as it is taken home.2012, Dattajirao K. Salunkhe, Narayana R. Bhat, Babasaheb B. Desai, Postharvest Biotechnology of Flowers and Ornamental Plants, page 150:
Forms of detracting
| Adjective | |
|---|---|
| comparative | more detracting |
| superlative | most detracting |
| Noun | |
| plural | detractings |
Words formed from detracting
Questions about detracting
- What does detracting mean?
- Detracting means that detracts.
- How do you use detracting in a sentence?
- The vain man is vainer, the voluble, more voluble, the morose, more morose; the passionate, more passionate, the detractor, more detracting; the sycophant, more sycophantic, and so forth.
- What part of speech is detracting?
- Detracting can be an adjective or a noun.
Words near detracting in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: detracting (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.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “detracting.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/detracting. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.