WORD OF THE DAY: DECRY
verb|dih-KRY
What It Means
To decry something is to express strong disapproval of it.
// The editorial decried the shuttering of the movie theater, which has been a local landmark for many years.
Examples of DECRY
“Twenty years ago, I wrote a book about the branding of youth culture called Branded: The Buying and Selling of Teenagers. As a parent, I have come to understand that raising a child who rejects luxury goods and influencer-touted-lip gloss is harder than raising a child who will eagerly decry the concept of capitalism at the dinner table.” — Alissa Quart, LitHub.com, 12 May 2025
Did You Know?
Decry has several synonyms in English, among them disparage and belittle. Decry suggests an open condemnation that makes it the best choice for cases in which criticism is not at all veiled. The forthrightness expressed by the word is an echo from its ancestry: decry was borrowed in the 17th century from the French verb décrier, meaning “to discredit, to lower in honour or esteem,” and the crier in that word is related to the Anglo-French crier, source of the English verb cry, the oldest meaning of which is “to utter loudly; shout.” Be careful not to confuse decry with the similar-looking (and possibly related) verb descry, meaning “to catch sight of” or “to reveal.”
Merriam Webster Dictionary
