[1] : The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48

denigrate \den"igrate\, v. t. l. denigrare; de- + nigrare to
   blacken, niger black.
   1. to blacken thoroughly; to make very black. --boyle.
      1913 webster

   2. fig.: to blacken or sully; to defame. r.
      1913 webster

            to denigrate the memory of voltaire.  --morley.
      1913 webster

[2] : WordNet (r) 2.0

denigrate
     v 1: belittle; "don't belittle his influence" syn: minimize, belittle,
           derogate
     2: charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good
        name and reputation of someone; "the journalists have
        defamed me" "the article in the paper sullied my
        reputation" syn: defame, slander, smirch, asperse,
         calumniate, smear, sully, besmirch
see also:
minimize belittle derogate defame slander smirch 
asperse calumniate smear sully besmirch 

[3] : Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0

58 moby thesaurus words for "denigrate":
   asperse, bedarken, besmirch, bespatter, black, blacken, blackwash,
   blot, blotch, call names, calumniate, charcoal, cork, darken,
   defame, defile, deprecate, depreciate, despise, dinge, discommend,
   disdain, disparage, dispraise, disvalue, ebonize,
   engage in personalities, heap dirt upon, hold in contempt, ink,
   libel, melanize, muckrake, murk, nigrify, oversmoke, put down,
   revile, ridicule, scandalize, shade, shadow, slander, smear,
   smirch, smoke, smudge, smut, smutch, soil, soot, stigmatize, sully,
   tarnish, tear down, throw mud at, traduce, vilify

Denigrate >> D Words
Denigrate, definition of term: Denigrate
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