Detract
[dɪ'trækt]
Definition
(v. t.) To take away; to withdraw.
(v. t.) To take credit or reputation from; to defame.
(v. i.) To take away a part or something, especially from one's credit; to lessen reputation; to derogate; to defame; -- often with from.
Typed by Angelo
Synonyms and Antonyms
SYN:Lessen, deteriorate, depreciate, disparage, defame, decry, derogate,calumniate, scandalize, vilify, diminish
ANT:Augment, enhance, raise, increase
Typist: Maxine
Definition
v.t. to take away abate: to defame.—v.i. to take away reputation (with from): to reduce in degree: diminish.—ns. Detract′er -or:—fem. Detract′ress.—adv. Detract′ingly.—n. Detrac′tion depreciation: slander.—adjs. Detract′ive Detrac′tious Detract′ory tending to detract: derogatory.
Editor: Lorna
Examples
- Why should Gerald even dislike it, why did it seem to him to detract from his own dignity. D. H. Lawrence. Women in Love .
- That the music reproduced by a phonograph is not always of the highest order does not, in the least, detract from the interest and wonder of the instrument. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- When the truth of it could no longer be doubted, envy and vanity endeavoured to detract from its merit. Benjamin Franklin. Memoirs of Benjamin Franklin.
- They roamed at large on the undulations of Egdon, but in numbers too few to detract much from the solitude. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
- The matter added to facilitate spinning and weaving generally detracts from the appearance of the uncolored fabric, and also interferes with successful dyeing. Bertha M. Clark. General Science.
- It had given them a child; but it had not detracted from the personal attractions of my sister. Mary Shelley. The Last Man.
- I assure you that it has not detracted in the tiniest iota from your appearance. Arthur Conan Doyle. The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes.
- The condenser stood in a large cold-water cistern, and the weight of the masonry and the cistern greatly detracted from the boat’s buoyancy. Rupert S. Holland. Historic Inventions.
- But this detracted little from its interest, which lay in the excellent fuel it provided for newly kindled fervour. Thomas Hardy. The Return of the Native.
Inputed by Byron