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decry: msg#00010culture.language.word-of-the-day
**************************************************************** Spring fever? Watch your vocabulary grow by trying a free 14-day subscription to Merriam-WebsterUnabridged.com! http://www.merriam-webster.com/cgi-bin/unabridged_sub.pl?refr=U_wod **************************************************************** The Word of the Day for April 11 is: decry \dih-KRYE\ verb 1 : to depreciate (as a coin) officially or publicly *2 : to express strong disapproval of Example sentence: My grandmother decried the laziness and disobedience that she insisted was becoming the norm among young people today. Did you know? "Decry," "depreciate," "disparage," and "belittle" all mean "to express a low opinion of something," but there are also some subtle differences in their use. "Decry," which is a descendant of the Old French verb "crier," meaning "to cry," implies open condemnation with intent to discredit ("he decried her defeatist attitude"). "Depreciate" implies that something is being represented as having less value than commonly believed ("critics depreciated his plays for being unabashedly sentimental"). "Disparage" implies depreciation by indirect means, such as slighting or harmful comparison ("she disparaged polo as a game for the rich"). "Belittle" usually suggests a contemptuous or envious attitude ("he belittled the achievements of others"). *Indicates the sense illustrated in the example sentence. |
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