detract
verbUK /dɪˈtɹækt/
Etymology Borrowed from Middle French détracter, from Latin detractum, past participle of detraho.
1
To take away; to withdraw or remove.
- The improvement here patented consists in so arranging the parts of an ever pointed pencil case, that the point which holds the pencil shall be obtruded and detracted without having a slot in the side, which a ferrule and pin to draw it down, as is ordinarily done.1846, editorial staff, “CHEMISTRY”, in Scientific American, series 1, Volume 2, Issue 13, page 102:
- The Conan O’Brien-penned half-hour has the capacity to rip our collective hearts out the way the cute, funny bad girl next door does to Bart when she reveals that her new boyfriend is Jimbo Jones, but the show keeps shying away from genuine emotion in favor of jokes that, while overwhelmingly funny, detract from the poignancy and the emotional intimacy of the episode.2012 May 27, Nathan Rabin, “TV: Review: THE SIMPSONS (CLASSIC): “New Kid On The Block” (season 4, episode 8; originally aired 11/12/1992)”, in The Onion AV Club:
2
To take credit or reputation from; to derogate; to defame or decry.
- That calumnious critic […] / Detracting what laboriously we do.1604, Michael Drayton, Moses in a Map of his Miracles:
- Derived terms
- detractable, detraction, detractive, detractor
- Related terms
- take away from