decry

Merriam-Webster's Word of the Day for June 21, 2011 is: decry • \dih-KRY\  • verb 1 : to depreciate (as a coin) officially or publicly 2 : to express strong disapproval of Examples: In her article, she decries the pollution of the environment by manufacturers. "Inside the meeting, several speakers, including a teacher, two parents and two students, also decried the board action as wrongheaded or too hasty for the school of about 4,000 students." -- From an article by Howard Blume in the Los Angeles Times, May 11, 2011 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"). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.