disparage
dih-SPAIR-ijverbMeaning to speak of something as if it had little worth
Memory hook DIS the PARADE. Victor stands at the curb and disses the whole parade: “Silly floats, tiny band, nothing special.” To disparage something is to talk about it as if it had little worth.
He disparaged his sister’s painting as “just a bunch of blobs.”
In context It is easy to disparage a small library as old-fashioned, but for many families in town it is the only place with free books and computers.
Similar belittle, run down, put down, scorn
Opposite praise, extol, celebrate
From Old French desparagier, “to marry beneath one’s rank,” and so to lower or degrade.