DEPRECATION

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does deprecation mean? 

• DEPRECATION (noun)
  The noun DEPRECATION has 2 senses:

1. a prayer to avert or remove some evil or disaster

2. the act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself)

  Familiarity information: DEPRECATION used as a noun is rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• DEPRECATION (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A prayer to avert or remove some evil or disaster

Classified under:

Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents

Hypernyms ("deprecation" is a kind of...):

orison; petition; prayer (reverent petition to a deity)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The act of expressing disapproval (especially of yourself)

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

denigration; deprecation

Hypernyms ("deprecation" is a kind of...):

disparagement; dispraise (the act of speaking contemptuously of)

Derivation:

deprecate (belittle)

deprecate (express strong disapproval of; deplore)

 Context examples 

He pursued his theme, however, without noticing my deprecation.

(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)

He shrugged his shoulders in humorous deprecation of the state of things which he had himself done so much to produce.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

My companion waved his hand in contemptuous deprecation.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

You are the best of creatures—no, I beg your pardon! for the Doctor made a gesture of deprecation, I must say before your face, as I always say behind your back, you are the best of creatures; but of course you don't—now do you?

(David Copperfield, by Charles Dickens)