discredit
v.v. to make people stop believing or trusting someone or something. You do this by showing that an idea is false or that a person is not honest.
v. to harm the reputation of a person or the credibility of an idea by revealing flaws or falsehoods. Transitive; requires a direct object.
The new evidence will discredit his original theory.
The lawyer tried to discredit the witness by showing that her memory of the event was inconsistent.
The scientific community moved quickly to discredit the fraudulent study before it could influence public health policy or cause widespread panic.
From dis- + credit.
The verb is transitive and takes a direct object, typically a person, a theory, or a claim.
The scandal discredited to the politician.The scandal discredited the politician.Discredit is a transitive verb and does not take the preposition 'to' before its object.