detract
/dɪˈtrakt
/verb [no object] (detract from)
1Diminish the worth or value of (a quality or achievement): these quibbles in no way detract from her achievement...
- As a result, the case is being made that money spent to minimise risk does not detract from shareholder value, but protects it.
- Choose a design that fits in with the style and scale of your home, otherwise you could detract from its value and end up living in a fortress.
- There are not many places where you can get into conversation about how to detract from the value of the local housing.
Synonyms
belittle, take away from, diminish, reduce, lessen, minimize, lower, make light of, play down, discount, soft-pedal, brush aside, gloss over, trivialize, decry, depreciate, denigrate, devalue, devaluate, deprecate
informal pooh-pooh
archaic hold cheap
rare derogate, misprize, minify
1.1 [with object] Take away (a specified amount) from the worth or value of a quality or achievement: it is detracting nothing from his ability to say that he owed the championship to a superior car...
- The fact Colin never won Olympic gold does not detract one bit from his achievements.
- We have had to display a lot more than our own hand-made goods, which does detract a bit from our crafting origins, but we are determined to make a go of it.
- Far from having the character of final coda, the added six months would, if he got them, be anticlimactic, detracting a bit from the beauty of his life as a whole.
Derivatives
detraction
/ noun ...- When I buy Frank magazine and pass it around, I am doing evil for I am sharing in the sin of detraction and calumny.
- These small detractions don't stop Raimi's film from being a superlative movie, a rare sequel that betters its predecessor, a rare blockbuster that has an emotional heart.
- Although the executive committee said that all these entries had good points, they felt that each had enough detractions to deny them the award.
detractive
/ adjective ...- Obloquy means roughly ‘travesty,’ ‘abusively detractive language,’ or ‘a gross distortion and cheapening of a widely-held doctrine or faith.’
- This Miniature Third Reich Battle Flag is made of lithographed metal and is in un-issued condition with some minor storage wear on each example that is not detractive.
- I'm not 100% sure that the graphics were needed, but it certainly isn't detractive.
Origin
Late Middle English: from Latin detract- 'drawn away', from the verb detrahere, from de- 'away from' + trahere 'draw'.