belittle

v

1. disparage, decry, deprecate, demean, detract, deflate, derogate, Inf. talk down; mitigate, bate, lessen, attenuate, decrease, diminish, boil down, wither, shrivel, subtract from, cheapen, devaluate, depreciate, downgrade, degrade, lower, reduce; shorten, shrink, abridge, contract, condense, compress, curtail, narrow, cut short, truncate, obtruncate; dwarf, bedwarf, overshadow, make small.

2. minimize, slight, underrate, undervalue, beggar, misprize, extenuate, underestimate, underreckon, think nothing of, set no store by, fail to count on; deemphasize, underplay, make light of, Inf. play down.

3. discredit, disfavor, disprove, make disreputable, injure or impair the credit or reputation of; criticize, pull to pieces, carp or cavil at; satirize, lampoon, pasquinade, caricature, ridicule, mock, poke fun at, laugh at, jibe at, sneer at, deride, disdain, contemn, scorn, scoff, spurn, pooh-pooh.

4. humiliate, humble, mortify, Sl. put down, make [s.o.] eat humble pie or crow or his words, make [s.o.] swallow his words; shame, disgrace, dishonor, abase, debase, vitiate; slur, sully, vilify, malign, blacken, impugn, traduce, falsify, scandalize, smear, smirch, besmirch, taint, defame, denigrate, impute, asperse, slander, libel, calumniate, Sl. dump on, drag through the mud or mire, heap dirt upon, fling dirt, Sl. dump on, Sl. badmouth, Sl. poormouth.