denigration

/ˌdɛnɪˈgreɪʃən/

Other forms: denigrations

When you badmouth someone or talk scornfully about them (especially when they don't deserve it), that's denigration. If you practice denigration, shame on you!

It's one thing to criticize people fairly, but when it's done in an unfair or unnecessarily hateful way, it's not criticism — it's denigration. The denigration of a public political figure is bad enough, but the denigration of ordinary people because of their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, or body size, for example, can even be illegal. Denigration is rooted in the Latin denigrare, meaning "to blacken."

Definitions of denigration

1. noun

   an abusive attack on a person's character or good name
   synonyms: aspersion, calumny, defamation, slander

   type of:

   attack

   strong criticism
2. noun

   a belittling comment
   synonyms: belittling

   type of:

   depreciation, derogation, disparagement

   a communication that belittles somebody or something
3. noun

   the act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself)
   synonyms: deprecation

   type of:

   disparagement, dispraise

   the act of speaking contemptuously of