discredit
- 01 C1 Advanced
v.to make people lose respect for someone by showing they are not honest or reliable.
v.to damage the reputation of a person or institution by exposing flaws or dishonesty. Transitive; requires a direct object.
Simple“The politician's enemies tried to discredit him by leaking old emails to the press.”
In context“The opposition party launched a coordinated campaign to discredit the prime minister, hoping to erode public trust before the upcoming election.”
UsageOften used in political or professional contexts regarding character attacks.
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to show that an idea, theory, or piece of evidence is not true or cannot be trusted.
v.to cause a theory, claim, or piece of evidence to appear false or unreliable through counter-evidence or logical refutation.
Simple“New scientific evidence has completely discredited the old theory about how the disease spreads.”
In context“The defence attorney successfully discredited the witness's testimony by proving she was not actually at the scene of the crime.”
UsageCommon in academic, legal, and scientific writing.
Synonyms - 03 C1 Advanced
n.the loss of a good reputation or the state of being seen as dishonest.
n.the state of being disbelieved or having a damaged reputation; a source of dishonour.
Simple“His rude behaviour at the ceremony brought discredit on his entire family.”
In context“The scandal brought great discredit upon the university's research department, leading to a loss of several major grants.”
UsageCommonly used in the phrase 'bring discredit on/to' someone or something.
“I don’t want to do pop culture a discredit by being like, “It’s all vapid”, because it’s not.”
“Such efforts to discredit policies aimed at supporting autistic people, and those from ethnic minorities, to achieve their full potential must be strenuously resisted.”
From dis- + credit.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.