German

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Etymology

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From Latin denuntiare.

Pronunciation

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  • IPA(key): /denʊnˈtsiːʁən/
  • Audio:(file)
  • Hyphenation: de‧nun‧zie‧ren
  • Rhymes: -iːʁən

Verb

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denunzieren (weak, third-person singular present denunziert, past tense denunzierte, past participle denunziert, auxiliary haben)

  1. to denounce, to inform against
    Sie denunzierte ihren Ex-Mann wegen Drogenbesitzes.
    She denounced her ex-husband for drug possession.
  2. to denounce, to stigmatise
    Sie denunzierte ihren Ex-Mann öffentlich als „Schlappschwanz“.
    She publicly denounced her ex-husband as a “limpdick”.

Usage notes

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  • In both senses, the German verb implies that the denouncing is done for base motives and not for the sake of justice. Therefore, while German denunzieren can usually be translated with “to denounce”, the reverse is often not the case.

Conjugation

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Derived terms

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Further reading

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