undermine Hear it!

undermine Definition

under·mine (un′dər mīn′, un′dər mīn′)

transitive verb -·mined′, -·min′·ing

  1. to dig beneath; excavate ground from under, so as to form a tunnel or mine
  2. to wear away and weaken the supports of erosion is undermining the wall
  3. to injure, weaken, or impair, esp. by subtle, stealthy, or insidious means

undermine Synonyms

undermine

v.

  1. Enfeeble

    impair, ruin, threaten; see weaken 2.

  2. To excavate

    dig out, tunnel, hollow out; see dig 1. See syn. study at weaken.

undermine Usage Examples

Object

  • credibility: Comments: Does blog marketing undermine the credibility it depends on?
  • confidence: Nothing has done more to undermine public confidence in the pensions system than the losses felt by those honest, decent people.
  • morale: Never knowing if you were going to be the next target did a great deal to undermine morale in the RIC.
  • legitimacy: Structural shortages, however, continually undermined this legitimacy.
  • viability: In fact ' outreach surgical camps ' in these areas undermine the viability of these sustainable services.
  • integrity: The Chief Executive said that the publication of this question bank could risk undermining the integrity of the test.

Subject

  • lack: Put at its simplest, the health of too many people living with HIV in the UK is being undermined by lack of income.
  • failure: At present this confidence is being undermined by the failure to develop software that can perform this calculation.

Modifying Another Word

  • fatally: However, his case is being fatally undermined by the soaring costs within the industry.
  • seriously: At a stroke urban regeneration in England was seriously undermined.
  • severely: In this event, NATO, which has kept the peace in Europe for many years, would be severely undermined.
  • fundamentally: The Key Worker will then determine whether there is a need for an urgent Core Group meeting or whether the plan is fundamentally undermined.
  • systematically: For all they claim to honor individuality and diversity, they are systematically undermining the protections that make these things possible.
  • thereby: It would allow the anomalies to continue thereby undermining the charity ' brand ' .

Used with why or when

  • when: But with lists and tables widely available, their raison d'etre is undermined when not as accurate as possible.
  • what: Does it undermine what Public Enemy is all about?

Present participle complement

  • exist: The creation of working class intellectuals helping to create counter hegemony to undermine existing social relations should be an SSP goal.

Preposition: of

  • confidence: I saw it at first hand in the undermining of confidence and bouts of depression that these often savage attacks engendered in him.

Preposition: by

  • lack: Put at its simplest, the health of too many people living with HIV in the UK is being undermined by lack of income.
  • failure: At present this confidence is being undermined by the failure to develop software that can perform this calculation.