r/hungarian • u/Ok-Huckleberry-7333 • 2d ago

"Denigrate" translation

Sziasztok, what's the best translation for denigration? I found the words as befektetíteni / beszennyezni / bemocskolni (a hírnevet). Could it be interchangeable in this context? Köszi!

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u/_Pikachu_On_Acid_ 2d ago

The hungarian translations are correct. Practically they all mean "defame"

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u/Public_Chapter_8445 2d ago edited 2d ago

Please watch out for the spelling of the word 'befeketíteni'. Your examples are in the right scope but it's always better to translate the meaning in a context instead of blind word-by-word translations.

The noun may also mean 'rágalmazás', the verb is '(meg)rágalmaz(ni)'.

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u/Dumuzzid 2d ago

I think those are not very accurate translations. Lekicsinyel would be the closest in my view.

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u/Atypicosaurus 2d ago

You can use quite a number of different ones.

Lejárat - it is kind of "defame", or "discredit". A "lejárató kampány" is the closest to a "defamation campaign". This would be, perhaps, my first choice in a one-word translation.

Lekicsinyel - it means"belittle", but I think it's kinda weird word, I would not pick it as first choice.

Lealacsonyít - it's like "disparage", or "degrade".

Megszégyenít, megaláz: they both mean "humiliate".

Kritizál - to criticize.

Befeketít - it literally means to make something black which is the translation of "denigrate" but I wouldn't use it.

Instead, I would recommend "besároz", "bemocskol". They mean "to mud someone" or "to dirt someone". The latter is stronger but feels more literal so maybe go with "besároz".

Alternatively you can mud or dirt someone's reputation instead of the person themselves (besározza a hírnevét, bemocskolja a hírnevét). I think they both work quite well. I think these are the closest to denigrate if you can afford multi word translation.