decry

verb

de·cry di-ˈkrī How to pronounce decry (audio)

dē-

decried; decrying

transitive verb

: to depreciate (something, such as a coin) officially or publicly

the king may at any time decry … any coin of the kingdom

William Blackstone

: to express strong disapproval of

decry the emphasis on sex

… has decried the medical marijuana ballot initiative as being rife with loopholes.

Dan Sweeney

decrier

di-ˈkrī(-ə)r How to pronounce decry (audio)

dē-

noun

Did you know?

Decry has several synonyms in English, among them disparage and belittle. Decry connotes an open condemnation that makes it the best choice for cases in which criticism is not at all veiled. The forthrightness expressed by the word is an echo from its ancestry: decry was borrowed in the 17th century from the French décrier, meaning "to discredit, depreciate," and the crier in that word is also the source of our word cry, the oldest meaning of which is “to utter loudly; shout.”

Example Sentences

In her article, she decries the pollution of the environment by manufacturers. Violence on television is generally decried as harmful to children.

Recent Examples on the Web The president made his own Wilkes-Barre trip last week to discuss increasing funding for police, decry GOP criticism of the FBI after the raid on Trump’s Florida estate and to argue that new, bipartisan gun measures can help reduce violent crime.

Will Weissert, ajc, 5 Sep. 2022 The president made his own Wilkes-Barre trip last week to discuss increasing funding for police, decry GOP criticism of the FBI after the raid on Trump’s Florida estate, and argue that new, bipartisan gun measures can help reduce violent crime.

Will Weissert, BostonGlobe.com, 5 Sep. 2022 But officials, including Jackson Mayor Chokwe Antar Lumumba, decry that issues at the facility are not just a result of recent severe weather, rather in part due to the lack of maintenance over an immense period of time.

Ahmad Hemingway, ABC News, 3 Sep. 2022 As some major players in the crypto universe rush to comply, plenty of others decry the move as overly broad and even asinine.

Eric Mack, Forbes, 9 Aug. 2022 Many commentators these days, both progressive and conservative, decry a lack of opportunities for the American middle class, the concentration of certain industries under a few owners, and the tilt of startup funding toward a few large cities.

Josh Rutzick, WSJ, 28 July 2022 The Chinese often decry the United States’ Cold War mentality.

Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 25 July 2022 Trump, meanwhile, has continued to decry the search as a personal attack in which he has been targeted by federal authorities.

Kevin Johnson, USA TODAY, 12 Aug. 2022 After Garland’s appearance, Trump took to his own social media network to again decry the FBI search of Mar-a-Lago.

Josh Dawsey, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Aug. 2022 See More

Word History

Etymology

borrowed from French décrier "to discredit, depreciate," going back to Middle French descrier (15th century), from des- de- + crier "to cry entry 1"

Note: A supposed 13th-century French usage of descrier in the sense "to announce (the depreciation or suppression of a currency)," mentioned without citation in the Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, has never been found and should probably be disregarded. See also note at descry entry 1.

First Known Use

1614, in the meaning defined at sense 1