detract
verb
[ dɪˈtrakt ]
• diminish the worth or value of (a quality or achievement).
• "these quibbles in no way detract from her achievement"
Similar:
belittle,
take away from,
diminish,
reduce,
lessen,
minimize,
lower,
make light of,
play down,
discount,
soft-pedal,
brush aside,
gloss over,
trivialize,
decry,
depreciate,
denigrate,
devalue,
devaluate,
deprecate,
pooh-pooh,
hold cheap,
derogate,
misprize,
minify,
• cause someone or something to be distracted or diverted from.
• "the complaint was timed to detract attention from the ethics issue"
Origin:
late Middle English: from Latin detract- ‘drawn away’, from the verb detrahere, from de- ‘away from’ + trahere ‘draw’.
