different between discredit vs undermine

English

Etymology

dis- +? credit.

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -?d?t

Verb

discredit (third-person singular simple present discredits, present participle discrediting, simple past and past participle discredited)

1. (transitive) To harm the good reputation of a person; to cause an idea or piece of evidence to seem false or unreliable.

   The candidate tried to discredit his opponent.

   The evidence would tend to discredit such a theory.

Synonyms

• demean, disgrace, dishonour, disprove, invalidate, tell against

Derived terms

• discreditor

Translations

Noun

discredit (countable and uncountable, plural discredits)

1. (countable or uncountable) Discrediting or disbelieving.
2. (countable) A person or thing that causes harm to a reputation, as of a person, family, or institution.
3. (uncountable) The state of being discredited or disbelieved.

   Later accounts have brought the story into discredit.

4. (uncountable) A degree of dishonour or disesteem; ill repute; reproach.
   • 1815, Doctor Rogers, “A good Life the best Ornament of the Christian Profession” (sermon), in Family Lectures: or, a copious Collection of Sermons, F. C. and J. Rivington et al., page 351:

     It is the duty of every Christian to be concerned for the reputation or discredit his life may bring on his profession.

Synonyms

• (degree of dishonour): demerit

Translations

References

• discredit in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• discredit at OneLook Dictionary Search

Romanian

Etymology

From French discrédit.

Noun

discredit n (uncountable)

1. disrepute

Declension

English

Etymology

From under- +? mine.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /?nd??ma?n/
• Rhymes: -a?n

Verb

undermine (third-person singular simple present undermines, present participle undermining, simple past and past participle undermined)

1. To dig underneath (something), to make a passage for destructive or military purposes; to sap. [from 14th c.]
   • 2009, Diarmaid MacCulloch, A History of Christianity, Penguin 2010, p. 312:

     Martin, for instance, had on one occasion undermined a tree sacred to old gods, then stood in the path of its fall, but forced it to fall elsewhere by making the sign of the Cross.

2. (figuratively) To weaken or work against; to hinder, sabotage. [from 15th c.]

3. To erode the base or foundation of something, e.g. by the action of water.

Antonyms

• undergird

Translations

Further reading

• undermine in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
• undermine in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
• undermine at OneLook Dictionary Search
• “undermine”, in Lexico, Dictionary.com; Oxford University Press, 2019–present.