detractor

/dɪˈtrækɾər/

/dɪˈtræktə/

Other forms: detractors

A detractor is someone who puts you down. When you're proposing ideas at work, your detractor is the person who finds fault with everything you say.

Use the noun detractor for someone who is always critical. You might describe your brother as a detractor of the government if he complains incessantly about taxes, voting, the President, and all the members of Congress. If a person takes a dislike to you in particular, he is your own personal detractor. The origin of detractor goes back to the Latin word detrahere, "take down, pull down, or disparage."

Definitions of detractor

1. noun

   one who disparages or belittles the worth of something
   synonyms: depreciator, disparager, knocker

   types:

   backbiter, defamer, libeler, maligner, slanderer, traducer, vilifier

   one who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel

   hatemonger

   one who arouses hatred for others

   muckraker, mudslinger

   one who spreads real or alleged scandal about another (usually for political advantage)

   type of:

   cynic, faultfinder

   someone who is critical of the motives of others