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detractor

   Also found in: Legal, Encyclopedia 0.02 sec.
de·tract  (d-trkt)
v. de·tract·ed, de·tract·ing, de·tracts
v.tr.
1. To draw or take away; divert: They could detract little from so solid an argument.
2. Archaic To speak ill of; belittle.
v.intr.
To reduce the value, importance, or quality of something. Often used with from: testimony that only detracts from the strength of the plaintiff's case.

[Middle English detracten, from Latin dtrahere, dtract-, to remove : d-, de- + trahere, to pull. Sense 2, from Latin dtractre, frequentative of dtrahere, to take away.]

de·tractor n.
ThesaurusLegend:  Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
Noun1.detractor - one who disparages or belittles the worth of something
cynic, faultfinder - someone who is critical of the motives of others
backbiter, defamer, libeler, maligner, slanderer, traducer, vilifier - one who attacks the reputation of another by slander or libel
hatemonger - one who arouses hatred for others
muckraker, mudslinger - one who spreads real or alleged scandal about another (usually for political advantage)

detractor
noun slanderer, belittler, disparager, defamer, traducer, muckraker, scandalmonger, denigrator, backbiter, derogator (rare) This performance will silence the majority of his detractors.
Translations
detractor [dɪˈtræktəʳ] Ndetractor(a) m/f
detractor [dɪˈtræktər] ndétracteur/trice m/f
detractor
nKritiker(in) m(f)
detractor [dɪˈtræktəʳ] ndetrattore/trice
detractor [dɪˈtræktəʳ] ndetrattore/trice


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
He had performed many eminent services for the crown, had great natural and acquired parts, adorned with integrity and honour; but so ill an ear for music, that his detractors reported, "he had been often known to beat time in the wrong place;" neither could his tutors, without extreme difficulty, teach him to demonstrate the most easy proposition in the mathematics.
The warmest partisans of the enterprise now became its most ardent detractors.
Manson Mingott had become known--her cynicism was held to exceed his; and she had not the excuse--nor her detractors the satisfaction-- of pleading that she was "a foreigner.
 
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