deprecate:
- to disapprove of strongly
- to belittle; to depreciate
- [archaic:] to pray against, as an evil; to seek to avert by prayer
Example: Copland humorously deprecated his looks, finding in his gaunt physique, narrow face, prominent nose, and buckteeth a comic resemblance to a giraffe. [Reference: Howard Pollack, Aaron Copland: The Life and Work of an Uncommon Man]
