denounce
- 01 C1 Advanced
to strongly and publicly say that someone or something is wrong, evil, or illegal.
to publicly condemn or censure someone or something as being evil, wrong, or reprehensible.
Simple“The government was quick to denounce the violent attacks on peaceful protesters.”
In context“The international community moved to denounce the regime's human rights record, calling for immediate diplomatic sanctions.”
- 02 C1 Advanced
to tell the police or authorities that someone has done something wrong or illegal.
to make a formal or public accusation against a person; to inform against someone to the authorities.
Simple“During the war, many people were afraid that their neighbours might denounce them.”
In context“He was arrested after an anonymous source decided to denounce him to the secret police for anti-government activities.”
- 03 C2 Proficiency
to officially announce that a government is ending a formal agreement or treaty.
to give formal notice of the termination of a treaty, armistice, or international agreement.
Simple“The nation decided to denounce the trade treaty after months of failed negotiations.”
In context“The ministry issued a statement to denounce the long-standing armistice, citing repeated border violations by the opposing forces.”
UsageUsually takes a treaty or agreement as a direct object.
- 04 C2 Proficiency
an old way to say 'to announce' or 'to make something known' in a formal way.
to make known in a formal manner; to proclaim or declare. This sense is no longer used in modern English.
Simple“The herald arrived to denounce the coming of the new king to the people.”
In context“In the ancient text, the prophet rose to denounce the impending doom that would befall the city.”
“And of course she denounced the scandalous attack on Iraq for its non-existent weapons of mass destruction.”
“Acemoglu denounces throughout the progressive-liberal elites in exactly the same way as modern populists do (Farage-like, he even says liberalism’s troubles have reached “boiling point”).”
From Old French denuncier, from Latin dēnūntiō (“to announce, to denounce, to threaten”), from de + nūntiō (“to announce, to report, to denounce”), from nūntius (“messenger, message”). Doublet of denunciate.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.