bewray

26 synonyms and 1 antonym for bewray, grouped by meaning and by how common each one is.

Verb — To blame someone or say bad things about them.

Synonyms

Everyday swaps

Common words most readers know — safe in any writing.

sing finger reveal show

Less common

Still standard English, but they carry more weight.

betray denounce peach inform dime uncover unfold bare expose

Rare, literary or technical

Precise, but they will stand out — check the sense before using one.

badmouth denigrate besmear asperse diss besmirch backbite blacken fink snitch nark dob uncloak

Synonyms by Meaning

1. verb

To blame someone or say bad things about them.

badmouth denigrate besmear asperse diss besmirch betray backbite blacken

2. verb

To let something become known, especially something secret.

“But we will not eat nor drink with the lords of Witchland, who bewrayed and forsook us their sworn confederates at the sea-fight against the Ghouls.”

denounce fink peach sing snitch inform dime nark dob finger

Opposites

obscure

3. verb

To show what someone or something is really like, often without meaning to, or in a way that damages their reputation.

“His very speeches bewray the man – intensely human, frank and single-hearted”

uncover uncloak unfold reveal bare show expose

Etymology

Came into English from Middle English bewraien, bewreyen or biwreyen, which developed from Old English *bewrēġan, itself from Proto-Germanic *biwrōgijaną (“to speak about; tell on; inform of”). It is cognate with Old Frisian biwrōgja (“to disclose, reveal”), Dutch bewroegen (“to blame; accuse”), Middle Low German bewrȫ...

Full origin of bewray →

People also searched

show sing finger reveal inform bare expose obscure peach dime uncover betray

Nearby words

← Back to the full definition of bewray