Depopularize

Part of speech: verb

Definitions

1. Making something lose its widespread appeal or public favor so that fewer people admire or follow it
2. Causing a person, idea, or product to become less well liked or less widely embraced by the public
3. Diminishing the general approval or fame that something once enjoyed among ordinary people

Etymology: "Depopularize" is a plain formation: the prefix "de-", meaning "reverse or undo", attached to "popularize," which itself comes from "popular," borrowed from Latin "popularis," meaning "of the people." So the verb literally means to undo the process of making something widely liked or known. The prefix does the work here. "De-" comes from Latin, where it signaled removal, reversal, or downward movement, and English has long used it to build verbs that run a process backward, as with "decentralize" or "deregulate." Attaching it to "popularize" yields a word that describes stripping away a thing's public appeal rather than creating it.

Synonyms: discredit

Antonyms: popularize