Make Your Point > Archived Issues > DEPRECATE
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Hear it.
A high five to Annika, who recently brought the word deprecate to my attention!
"Deprecate" has Latin bits that literally mean "to pray away." In English, at first, to deprecate things was to pray against them: to seek safety from them by praying. Over time, the meaning changed from "pray against" to "plead against or wish against" to "express disapproval."
Part of speech:
Pick the formal, serious word "deprecate" to emphasize the haughty manner in which someone is dismissing or belittling something. If the basic message is "That's not good enough," then call it deprecation.
"If you say you barely squeaked through Physics for Poets, you have deprecated yourself twice in one sentence."
Explain the meaning of "deprecate" without saying "insult" or "belittle."
Let's check out some (fictional) examples of self-deprecation.
Try to spend 20 seconds or more on the game below. Don’t skip straight to the review—first, let your working memory empty out.
1.
Opposites of DEPRECATE include
I hope you're enjoying Make Your Point. It's made with love. I'm Liesl Johnson, a reading and writing tutor on a mission to explore, illuminate, and celebrate words. |