detract


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Related to detract: thesaurus

detract

to take away a part of the quality, value, or reputation: Don’t detract from the value of his remarks.
Not to be confused with:
distract – to disturb or trouble greatly: Her grief distracted her from her work.; bewilder, agitate, pain, torment, distress; to provide a pleasant diversion for; amuse; entertain: A good movie will always distract me from my worries.
Abused, Confused, & Misused Words by Mary Embree Copyright © 2007, 2013 by Mary Embree

de·tract

 (dĭ-trăkt′)
v. de·tract·ed, de·tract·ing, de·tracts
v.tr.
To draw or take away; divert: They could detract little from so solid an argument.
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 dētrahere, dētract-, to remove : dē-, de- + trahere, to pull.]

de·trac′tor n.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

detract

(dɪˈtrækt)
vb
1. (when: intr, usually foll by from) to take away a part (of); diminish: her anger detracts from her beauty.
2. (tr) to distract or divert
3. (tr) obsolete to belittle or disparage
[C15: from Latin dētractus drawn away, from dētrahere to pull away, disparage, from de- + trahere to drag]
deˈtractingly adv
deˈtractive, deˈtractory adj
deˈtractively adv
deˈtractor n
deˈtractress fem n
Usage: Detract is sometimes wrongly used where distract is meant: a noise distracted (not detracted) my attention
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

de•tract

(dɪˈtrækt)

v.i.
1. to take away a part, as from value or reputation (usu. fol. by from).
v.t.
2. to divert; distract: to detract attention from a problem.
3. Archaic. to take away.
[1400–50; late Middle English (< Middle French detracter) < Latin dētractus, past participle of dētrahere to detach, draw off =dē- de- + trahere to draw]
de•trac′tor, n.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.

detract


Past participle: detracted
Gerund: detracting

Imperative
detract
detract
Present
I detract
you detract
he/she/it detracts
we detract
you detract
they detract
Preterite
I detracted
you detracted
he/she/it detracted
we detracted
you detracted
they detracted
Present Continuous
I am detracting
you are detracting
he/she/it is detracting
we are detracting
you are detracting
they are detracting
Present Perfect
I have detracted
you have detracted
he/she/it has detracted
we have detracted
you have detracted
they have detracted
Past Continuous
I was detracting
you were detracting
he/she/it was detracting
we were detracting
you were detracting
they were detracting
Past Perfect
I had detracted
you had detracted
he/she/it had detracted
we had detracted
you had detracted
they had detracted
Future
I will detract
you will detract
he/she/it will detract
we will detract
you will detract
they will detract
Future Perfect
I will have detracted
you will have detracted
he/she/it will have detracted
we will have detracted
you will have detracted
they will have detracted
Future Continuous
I will be detracting
you will be detracting
he/she/it will be detracting
we will be detracting
you will be detracting
they will be detracting
Present Perfect Continuous
I have been detracting
you have been detracting
he/she/it has been detracting
we have been detracting
you have been detracting
they have been detracting
Future Perfect Continuous
I will have been detracting
you will have been detracting
he/she/it will have been detracting
we will have been detracting
you will have been detracting
they will have been detracting
Past Perfect Continuous
I had been detracting
you had been detracting
he/she/it had been detracting
we had been detracting
you had been detracting
they had been detracting
Conditional
I would detract
you would detract
he/she/it would detract
we would detract
you would detract
they would detract
Past Conditional
I would have detracted
you would have detracted
he/she/it would have detracted
we would have detracted
you would have detracted
they would have detracted
Collins English Verb Tables © HarperCollins Publishers 2011
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Verb1.detract - take away a part from; diminish; "His bad manners detract from his good character"
cut down, reduce, trim back, trim down, cut, cut back, trim, bring down - cut down on; make a reduction in; "reduce your daily fat intake"; "The employer wants to cut back health benefits"
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.

detract

verb
To think, represent, or speak of as small or unimportant:
phrasal verb
detract from
To spoil the soundness or perfection of:
The American Heritage® Roget's Thesaurus. Copyright © 2013, 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
Translations

detract

[dɪˈtrækt] VI to detract from [+ value] → quitar mérito or valor a; [+ reputation] → empañar
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

detract

[dɪˈtrækt] vi
to detract from [+ quality, pleasure, achievement] → enlever à; [+ reputation, effect] → nuire à
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

detract

vi to detract from somethingetw beeinträchtigen, einer Sache (dat)Abbruch tun; from pleasure, merit alsoetw schmälern
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

detract

[dɪˈtrækt] vi to detract from (value) → sminuire; (reputation) → intaccare; (pleasure) → attenuare
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995
References in classic literature ?
The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note, nor long remember, what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here.
She was growing a little stout, but it did not seem to detract an iota from the grace of every step, pose, gesture.
But they would have been improved by some share of his frankness and warmth; and her visit was long enough to detract something from their first admiration, by shewing that, though perfectly well-bred, she was reserved, cold, and had nothing to say for herself beyond the most common-place inquiry or remark.
But, not to detract from a nation, to which, during my life, I shall acknowledge myself extremely obliged, it must be allowed, that whatever this famous tower wants in height, is amply made up in beauty and strength: for the walls are near a hundred feet thick, built of hewn stone, whereof each is about forty feet square, and adorned on all sides with statues of gods and emperors, cut in marble, larger than the life, placed in their several niches.
Your picture is so fine that my observation cannot detract from it, and, besides, it is only my personal opinion.
Morison was one that was not at all calculated to detract from the glory of the house of Baynes, or from that of its representative.
Nor will it detract from the interest they will all feel when they learn that the man whom madame entertained is a Russian servant--her brother's valet, to be quite exact."
And that would detract from the especial alarming significance we wish to give to the act.
Peggotty knowing nothing about her, and my mother saying nothing about her, she was quite a mystery in the parlour; and the fact of her having a magazine of jewellers' cotton in her pocket, and sticking the article in her ears in that way, did not detract from the solemnity of her presence.
You must admit, Hirst, that a little Italian town even would vulgarise the whole scene, would detract from the vastness--the sense of elemental grandeur." He swept his hands towards the forest, and paused for a moment, looking at the great green mass, which was now falling silent.
He is so; but then he is wholly uneducated: he is as silent as a Turk, and a kind of ignorant carelessness attends him, which, while it renders his conduct the more astonishing, detracts from the interest and sympathy which otherwise he would command.
Only in the colour of their skin did they differ materially from us; that is of the appearance of polished ebony, and odd as it may seem for a Southerner to say it, adds to rather than detracts from their marvellous beauty.