Meanings
present singular third person depreciates · participle present depreciating · participle past depreciated · past depreciated · alternative depretiate
- transitiveTo lessen in price or estimated value; to lower the worth of.
[…] which […] some over-severe philosophers may look upon fastidiously, or undervalue and depreciate.
1678, Ralph Cudworth, The True Intellectual System of the Universe1 more example
To prove that the Americans ought not to be free, we are obliged to depreciate the value of freedom itself.
1 December, 1783, Edmund Burke, speech on Fox's East India BillSynonyms: degrade, devalue, devaluate, abase, avile, debase, debauch, degrade · Antonyms: appreciate, upvalue
- transitiveTo belittle or disparage.
They depreciated him because he was the youngest on the team.
Synonyms: badmouth, cut down to size, assassinate, asperse, backbite, badmouth, befoul, belibel · Antonyms: aggrandize, big up, advance, aggrandize, dignify, elevate, ennoble, exalt
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo lessen in price or estimated value; to lower the worth of.
verbTo belittle or disparage.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Late Latindēpretiātus / dēpreciātus
- Middle Englishdepreciaten
- Englishdepreciate
Inherited from Middle English depreciaten, borrowed from Late Latin dēpretiātus / dēpreciātus, perfect passive participle of dēpretiō / dēpreciō (see -ate (verb-forming suffix)), from dē- + pretium (“price”) + -ō.
More words from Middle English, Late Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Bulgarian обезценявам, обезценявам се
- обезценявам (obezcenjavam)(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- обезценявам се (obezcenjavam se)(intr.) to decline in value over time
Catalan depreciar, devaluar
- depreciar(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- devaluar(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- depreciar(intr.) to decline in value over time
Finnish alentaa, laskea
- alentaa(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- laskea(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- halventaa(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- alentua(intr.) to decline in value over time
- laskea(intr.) to decline in value over time
- halveta(intr.) to decline in value over time
French déprécier
- déprécier(tr.) to lessen in price or value
German herabsetzen, abschreiben
- herabsetzen(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- abschreiben(intr.) to decline in value over time
Hebrew הפחית, קזז
- הפחית (hifchit)(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- קזז (kizez)(tr.) to lessen in price or value
Hungarian leértékel, devalvál
- leértékel(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- devalvál(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- elértéktelenít(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- leértékelődik(intr.) to decline in value over time
- devalválódik(intr.) to decline in value over time
- elértéktelenedik(intr.) to decline in value over time
Italian deprezzare, deprezzarsi
- deprezzare(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- deprezzarsi(intr.) to decline in value over time
Latin ēvīlescō
- ēvīlescō(intr.) to decline in value over time
Polish deprecjonować
- deprecjonować(tr.) to lessen in price or value
Romanian deprecia, diminua
- deprecia(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- diminua(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- micșora(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- se deprecia(intr.) to decline in value over time
- se diminua(intr.) to decline in value over time
- se micșora(intr.) to decline in value over time
Russian обесценивать, обесценить
- обесценивать (obescenivatʹ)(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- обесценить (obescenitʹ)(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- обесцениваться (obescenivatʹsja)(intr.) to decline in value over time
- обесцениться (obescenitʹsja)(intr.) to decline in value over time
Spanish depreciar, depreciarse
- depreciar(tr.) to lessen in price or value
- depreciarse(intr.) to decline in value over time
- desmerecer(intr.) to decline in value over time
Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
depreciate. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depreciate
“depreciate.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depreciate. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “depreciate,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/depreciate.
Source: depreciate on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.