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- Dictionaryundermining/ˌʌndəˈmʌɪnɪŋ/
noun
- 1. the action or process of lessening the effectiveness, power, or ability of someone or something, especially gradually or insidiously: "the greatest threat of all is the undermining of our Constitution"
adjective
- 1. lessening the effectiveness, power, or ability of someone or something, especially gradually or insidiously: "the last straw was an undermining comment questioning my skills"
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to make someone less confident, less powerful, or less likely to succeed, or to make something weaker, often gradually: The president has accused two cabinet members of working secretly to undermine his position /him. Criticism just undermines their confidence. Fewer examples.
to make someone less confident, less powerful, or less likely to succeed, or to make something weaker, often gradually: The president has accused two cabinet members of working secretly to undermine his position /him. Criticism just undermines their confidence. Fewer examples.
The meaning of UNDERMINE is to subvert or weaken insidiously or secretly. How to use undermine in a sentence. Synonym Discussion of 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.
Undermining definition: the act or process of injuring, attacking, or destroying something or someone indirectly or by imperceptible degrees, often leading to a dramatic collapse. See examples of UNDERMINING used in a sentence.
If you undermine something such as a feeling or a system, you make it less strong or less secure than it was before, often by a gradual process or by repeated efforts. Offering advice on each and every problem will undermine her feeling of being adult.
To undermine literally means to dig a hole underneath something, making it likely to collapse. But we more often use the word to describe sabotage or the act of weakening someone else's efforts. Originally spelled with a ‘y’ instead of an ‘i’, undermine has Germanic roots and means "to weaken, hinder, or impair."
