To denigrate is a verb that characterizes, in a figurative sense, the defaming someone's reputation. This action refers to the fact of tarnishing the good image of someone or an institution, through attitudes or statements.
Usually, whoever wants to denigrate someone or something makes use of derogatory attitudes and statements, such as speaking ill, making serious accusations, among others.
Example: "Gael managed to denigrate the image of the company he worked for for years".
Example: "Fátima managed to denigrate the image of her bosses in a few minutes of speech".
Example: "Fabrício did not expect Luís, his best employee, to denigrate the company's image".
The action of denigrating the image of someone or a company refers to the real meaning of the word, which is to reduce the transparency of something, in order to make it darker.
The verb can be replaced by synonyms such as watering down, dishonoring, slandering, blackening, muddying, darkening, defiling, fouling, slandering, etc.
See also the meaning of Pejorative.
Is denigration of someone's image a crime?
The action of damaging someone's reputation can be considered a crime, according to the Brazilian Penal Code.
Even if the fact that it is carried out for this purpose is true or not, the person who commits it may be carrying out a defamation crime, and may be sued for moral damages or even punishable by a fine and imprisonment.
know more about Defamation.