discredit
UK/dɪsˈkɹɛd.ɪt/
More pronunciations (1)Fewer pronunciations
Australia/dɪsˈkɹed.ɪt/
discredit verb: to harm the good reputation of (a person).
Verb
discredit (third-person singular simple present discredits, present participle discrediting, simple past and past participle discredited)
- To harm the good reputation of (a person).
- The candidate tried to discredit his opponent.
- Synonyms:
- demean, disgrace, dishonour, abase, bring down to size, cut down to size, debase, defame, degrade, demote
- To cause (an idea or piece of evidence) to seem false or unreliable.
- The evidence would tend to discredit such a theory.
- Many of our correspondents participated in the discussion, and the upshot was that the alleged record was discredited.1944 July and August, Charles E. Lee, “The "City of Truro"”, in Railway Magazine, page 202
- Synonyms:
- disprove, falsify, invalidate, tell against
Noun
discredit (countable and uncountable, plural discredits)
- Discrediting or disbelieving.
- Mr. Burton disbelieves it, and has brought sufficient reasons for his discredit of so improbable a story.1846, The London Quarterly Review, page 45
- It would have been too serious a task to verify his numerous citations in our very careful reading for the present notice; but we are bound to say that, observing his discredit of some of the passages which he quotes from a contemporary American writer, and struck ourselves with the apparent...1892, The Nation; Volume 55, page 244
- A person or thing that causes harm to a reputation, as of a person, family, or institution.
- […] that now and then a young man of that profession did actually appear among us, who was not a discredit to his country.1761, Samuel Richardson, The History of Sir Charles Grandison
- I felt at the time that to pass it so hastily would be a discredit to Parliament, as custodian of the liberties of the people of this country. I felt, too, that it would be a discredit to the colony, and a discredit, a deep discredit, to the Government1889, Parliamentary Debates, New Zealand. Parliament. House of Representatives, page 7
- The state of being discredited or disbelieved.
- Later accounts have brought the story into discredit.
- A degree of dishonour or disesteem; ill repute; reproach.
- It is the duty of every Christian to be concerned for the reputation or discredit his life may bring on his profession.1815, Doctor Rogers, “A good Life the best Ornament of the Christian Profession” (sermon), in Family Lectures: or, a copious Collection of Sermons, F. C. and J. Rivington et al., page 351
- It is to David Brill's discredit that he allowed himself — a long-time activist in the gay community and a paid staff writer for a gay liberation newspaper — to use his extensive news sources and a solid standing in the community to participate in what appears to be at this time a well-organized...1979 December 22, Shannon Austin, Chris Garten, Mitzel, Mike Riegle, Tom Reeves, Michael Thompson, Charley Shively, Maya Silverthorne, “Questions re Brill's Death and Police Penetration of Our...
- Synonyms:
- demerit
discredit meaning in Tamil, Urdu and Malayalam
discredit in Tamil
- கெட்ட பெயர், நற்பெயர் கெடு, நற்பெயர்க் கேடு, நாணயக் கேடு, நாணயக்கேடு மதிப்புக் குலைவு, மதிப்பழி
discredit in Urdu
- بےاعتبار
discredit in Malayalam
- അപകീർത്തി, അപമാനം, അവിശ്വാസം, വിശ്വാസയോഗ്യമല്ലാതാക്കൽ
Examples of discredit in a sentence
- And for now to have a policy where those fine Americans can only serve if they lie about who they are is a discredit to the American people.2009, Don't Ask, Don't Tell Review: Hearing Before the Military Personnel Subcommittee of the Committee on Armed Services, US House of...
- Inadequate, undisciplined, and nondevoted teachers are discredits to the schools they serve.2015, Daniel Iyeks, The Perils of the Young Blacks:
Synonyms of discredit
20 more synonymsFewer synonyms
Forms of discredit
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | discredits |
| present participle | discrediting |
| past participle | discredited |
| past | discredited |
| Noun | |
| plural | discredits |
Origin of discredit
From dis- + credit.
Words formed from discredit
Words that rhyme with discredit
Questions about discredit
- What does discredit mean?
- Discredit means to harm the good reputation of (a person).
- What is discredit in Tamil?
- Discredit in Tamil is கெட்ட பெயர், நற்பெயர் கெடு, நற்பெயர்க் கேடு. See Discredit meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use discredit in a sentence?
- And for now to have a policy where those fine Americans can only serve if they lie about who they are is a discredit to the American people.
- What part of speech is discredit?
- Discredit can be a verb or a noun.
- How do you pronounce discredit?
- Discredit is pronounced /dɪsˈkɹɛd.ɪt/ (UK).
- What is the past tense of discredit?
- The past tense of discredit is discredited.
Words near discredit in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: discredit (page history and authors); discredit (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discredit (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); discredit (Malayalam 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: en-us-discredit.ogg.
Cite this entry: “discredit.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/discredit. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.