detract
/dɪˈtɹækt/verb
detract is a verb meaning “To take away; to withdraw or remove” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). It is spelled D-E-T-R-A-C-T and has 2 syllables, and it appears 1.0 times per million words in written English (wordfreq, 2021 data).
What does detract mean?
verb
- 1
To take away; to withdraw or remove.
- 2
To take credit or reputation from; to derogate; to defame or decry.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How do you pronounce detract?
- UK /dɪˈtɹækt/
Detract has 2 syllables (counted from its American pronunciation in the CMU Pronouncing Dictionary).
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Recordings: LL-Q1860_(eng)-Vealhurl-detract.wav, Wikimedia Commons (author and licence on each file's page).
Forms of detract
- detracts present, singular, he/she/it
- detracting participle, present
- detracted participle, past
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).
How common is detract?
Detract appears 1.0 times per million words in written English, the 28,556th most frequent word form in the list.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Detract in Spanish, French, German and Portuguese
| Language | Words |
|---|---|
| Spanish | detraer , desvirtuar, detractar |
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract). Translations are Wiktionary's, by sense; a linked word has its own PlainSpell page.
Where does detract come from?
Borrowed from Middle French détracter, from Latin detractum, past participle of detraho.
Source: English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org (Wiktextract).