undermine
to injure or destroy by insidious activity or imperceptible stages, sometimes tending toward a sudden dramatic effect.
to attack by indirect, secret, or underhand means; attempt to subvert by stealth.
to make an excavation under; dig or tunnel beneath, as a military stronghold.
to weaken or cause to collapse by removing underlying support, as by digging away or eroding the foundation.
Origin of undermine
1Other words from undermine
- un·der·min·er, noun
Words Nearby undermine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use undermine in a sentence
About a month ago, we laid out five ways that Republicans are making it harder to vote and more generally undermining the electoral process in 2020.
The Latest On Republican Efforts To Make It Harder To Vote | Perry Bacon Jr. (perry.bacon@fivethirtyeight.com) | September 9, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightIf we don’t, we run the risk of undermining public health in the US — and even more specifically undermining the entire vaccination program.
A third of Americans might refuse a Covid-19 vaccine. How screwed are we? | Brian Resnick | September 4, 2020 | VoxSuggesting that one party is better than the other to our allies runs the risk of undermining our national position and credibility when the other party takes power.
The GOP Convention Violated Plenty Of Norms, But Did It Undermine Democratic Values? | Julia Azari | September 1, 2020 | FiveThirtyEightCowan said they believe the initial changes aimed to undermine mail delivery and now workers fear more changes will be made to slow the Postal Service — and nobody will find out until it is too late.
Info About Local Post Office Operations Is Conflicting and Hard to Come By | Ashly McGlone and Kate Nucci | August 27, 2020 | Voice of San Diego“You can’t just chase dollars, otherwise we’d be undermining the authority” that GQ has when it comes to quality product recommendations, said Welch.
‘It’s worth testing’: GQ is moving from recommending products to selling its own | Kayleigh Barber | August 25, 2020 | Digiday
The most dangerous attacks are those that undermine your perceived strength.
The ACLU and its allies are trying to undermine the holiday with lawsuits and annoying billboards.
One lefty tweeter even complained that an invasion of icky American tourists would undermine “family values” in Cuba.
Castro's Hipster Apologists Want to Keep Cuba ‘Authentically’ Poor | Michael Moynihan | December 18, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTWe “undermine” our nature every time we use glasses or medicine, after all.
His detractors tried to undermine his standing with Reagan, but he had support from an unlikely source—hard-line conservatives.
How the Reagan White House Bungled Its Response to Iran-Contra Revelations | Malcolm Byrne | November 3, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTThe influence of the Jews had helped also to undermine heathenism and thus to prepare the ground for Christianity.
Gospel Philosophy | J. H. WardWhile an attempt is made to undermine his claim to wisdom, it will incidentally appear that wisdom was ascribed to him.
Papers from Overlook-House | Casper AlmoreYou remember it, Dean, I thought him a villain when I learned how he was trying to undermine you.
Warrior Gap | Charles KingWith cynical cruelty, he set himself to insult, to undermine, to mutilate it.
The Child of Pleasure | Gabriele D'AnnunzioMr J. (still seeking, as I could see, to undermine me in his friend's favour).
Baboo Jabberjee, B.A. | F. Anstey
British Dictionary definitions for undermine
/ (ˌʌndəˈmaɪn) /
(of the sea, wind, etc) to wear away the bottom or base of (land, cliffs, etc)
to weaken gradually or insidiously: their insults undermined her confidence
to tunnel or dig beneath
Derived forms of undermine
- underminer, noun
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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