Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- transitive verb To condemn openly as being wrong or reprehensible. synonym: criticize.
- transitive verb To inform against (someone); accuse publicly.
- transitive verb To give formal announcement of the ending of (a treaty).
from The Century Dictionary.
- In diplomacy, to announce the intention of abrogating (a treaty) in accordance with its provisions or arbitrarily.
- To make known in a formal manner; proclaim; announce; declare.
- To proclaim or declare as impending or threatened; formally or publicly threaten to do or effect; make a menace of: as, to
denounce war; to denounce punishment. - To proclaim censure or condemnation of; brand publicly; stigmatize; arraign: as, to
denounce one as a swindler, or as a coward. - To make formal or public accusation against; inform against; accuse: used especially where knowledge of wrongful acts has been acquired confidentially or stealthily: as, to
denounce a confederate in crime; to denounce one to the authorities. - In Mexican and Spanish mining-law:
- To lay an information against (a mine) as forfeit because of abandonment, or through being insufficiently worked; hence, to claim the right to work (such a mine) by laying an information against it.
- To announce and register the discovery of (a new mine or mineral deposit), and thus preëmpt; hence, to lay claim to on the ground of discovery and registry.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- transitive verb obsolete To make known in a solemn or official manner; to declare; to proclaim (especially an evil).
- transitive verb To proclaim in a threatening manner; to threaten by some outward sign or expression.
- transitive verb To point out as deserving of reprehension or punishment, etc.; to accuse in a threatening manner; to invoke censure upon; to stigmatize.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- verb transitive, obsolete To make known in a
formal manner; toproclaim ; toannounce ; todeclare . - verb transitive To
criticize orspeak out against (someone or something); to point out as deserving ofreprehension orpunishment , etc.; to openlyaccuse orcondemn in a threatening manner; to invokecensure upon; tostigmatize ; toblame . - verb transitive To make a formal or
public accusation against; toinform against; toaccuse . - verb transitive, obsolete To
proclaim in athreatening manner; to threaten by someoutward sign orexpression ; make amenace of. - verb transitive To
announce thetermination of; especially atreaty orarmistice .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- verb announce the termination of, as of treaties
- verb speak out against
- verb to accuse or condemn or openly or formally or brand as disgraceful
- verb give away information about somebody
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Support
Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word denounce.
Examples
-
WASHINGTON (CNN) – Speaker Nancy Pelosi blasted President Bush's comments Thursday suggesting that Democrats believe "we should negotiate with terrorists and radicals" and suggested Senator John McCain denounce them.
-
Had this been 1930s Germany, one might as easily heard someone like Palin denounce Bolshevism as a Jewish reality.
Palin Thinks US Is Now at War With Iran « Antiwar.com Blog 2008
-
He was DANCING and CLAPPING with others at Rev. Wright for 20 years and now only you are making PUBLIC about your denounce ... the main purpose of the denounce is to get votes rather than to focus on issues.
Clinton calls Wright comments 'offensive and outrageous' 2008
-
That combination of obsession and need to denounce is familiar.
Matthew Yglesias » Stay Classy, Conservative Blogosphere 2007
-
That combination of obsession and need to denounce is familiar.
Matthew Yglesias » Stay Classy, Conservative Blogosphere 2007
-
I have been saying this for a while now, specifically in the context of Pakistan, that instead of trying to present a ‘moderate’ picture of Islam as is the fashion and which is fallacious by the way, we must in explicit terms denounce Islam.
-
Conversely, Chinese communists have seized on the idea of Lincoln as the great foe of rebellion and secession, using his name to denounce Taiwanese and Tibetan separatism and what they see as American double standards.
The Surprising Global Reach of Lincoln Richard Carwardine 2011
-
As to these, it is argument enough that he had given them wholly over in his own mind, in that here, and in St. Matthew, he did in such precise terms denounce the ruin of Jerusalem, immediately before he uttered these words.
From the Talmud and Hebraica 1602-1675 1979
-
I don't know what things are like in O'Dowd's world, but normal people don't "denounce" their friends and pastors when they say something objectionable.
-
But these demands to "denounce" are straight out of a Soviet show trial, and are despicable.
Comments
Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.