discredit

Universal Words verb, noun verb [VN] 1 to make people stop respecting sb/sth: The photos were deliberately taken to discredit the President. * a discredited government / policy 2 to make people stop believing that sth is true; to make sth appear unlikely to be true: These theories are now largely discredited among linguists. * This new evidence discredits earlier findings. noun [U] (formal) damage to sb's reputation; loss of respect: Violent football fans bring discredit on the teams they support. * Britain, to its discredit, did not speak out against these atrocities. * My brother's behaviour did great discredit to the family. compareCREDITn.(7)