Answer: Deprecate versus Depreciate

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What is the difference between deprecate and depreciate?

With examples from NCIS, Due South, and Psych.



What exactly is the difference between deprecate and depreciate? How can you tell when to use one and not the other?

Not only are they often (and incorrectly) used synonymously, they’re only a letter apart (depreciate has an “i,” deprecate doesn’t). If you are reading in a hurry, it’s easy to confuse the two. And if you’re like me and have a chronic inability to spell, that makes them especially tricky.

Let’s look at definitions and see if that helps narrow it down for us.


Deprecate

Dictionary.com defines deprecate as “1. to express earnest disapproval of” and “2. to urge reasons against, protest against (a scheme, purpose, etc).” In other words, when you deprecate something, you are criticizing it.

Examples:

Ducky rolled his eyes. “Gibbs, you shouldn’t deprecate Mr. Palmer’s suggestions. He’s young and excitable, not ignorant.”

Ray Vecchio was in the habit of deprecating Benton Fraser’s more hare-brained Canadian ideas about honor and duty and snappy dressing.

When asked, Carlton Lassiter spoke deprecatingly of psychic Shawn Spencer’s assistance to the Santa Barbara police, and pointed out his own contributions towards the fight against crime.

Depreciate

Dictionary.com defines depreciate as “1. to reduce the purchasing value of (money), 2. to lessen the price or value of," and "3. to claim depreciation on (a property) for tax purposes."

Depreciate deals with monetary value. So you could depreciate property or the price of an object, but you wouldn’t depreciate someone else’s report or hairstyle.

Examples:

Tony’s Mustang depreciated very quickly after it had been stolen, and even more so once the thief crashed it in the resulting car chase.

Although the apartment building had depreciated steadily since it had been built, Fraser's dedication and hard work helped to raise its value.

While Shawn thought that tricking out Gus's car made it more awesome, Gus knew the decals and rims were really depreciating its worth as a company vehicle.

Self-Deprecating

Let's not forget self-deprecating, which is defined as "belittling or undervaluing oneself; excessively modest." It's easy to get confused and write self-depreciating instead of self-deprecating, but remember that while you wouldn't refer to your own monetary value, you can easily criticize or make light of yourself or your actions.

Example:

Ray Kowalski stared at the Mountie. "No way, Fraser, I cannot believe you did that."

Fraser shrugged self-deprecatingly. "I merely followed the man on foot through a snowstorm with no supplies for two weeks, Ray. It's what anyone would have done in my position."

Deprecate versus Depreciate

The original definition of deprecate meant “prayed against, warded off,” and originally depreciate meant “undervalued.” If you are unsure which word you need to use, ask yourself this: are you actually lowering your subject’s value (depreciate), or are you warding people away from it, and discouraging its use (deprecate)?




Resources:
Dictionary.com: Deprecate
Dictionary.com: Depreciate
Dictionary.com: self-deprecating
deprecate, depreciate. The Columbia Guide to Standard American English. 1993.
World Wide Words: Depreciate