as in weakens
to make (someone or something) weaker or less effective usually in a secret or gradual way
She tried to undermine my authority by complaining about me to my boss. The events of the past year have undermined people's confidence in the government.
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Recent Examples of undermines
That lesson undermines every company trying to build trust, loyalty and long-term engagement.
—
Helmut Paul, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
The association is withdrawing as the official facilitator of the White House meeting, saying the partisan approach undermines collaboration.
—Joey Cappelletti, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
For him, corporate cultural failures aren’t abstract, but arise when leaders neglect defining purpose, allowing drift that undermines performance.
—Jason Phillips, jsonline.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Mai sings in a fake-aloof tone about not wanting to get her hopes up, but the beat’s rickety construction—808s, snaps, live drums, and an urgently ticking clock—undermines her facade.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
Such fraud not only undermines patient safety but also erodes the cost savings policymakers hope to achieve.
—Sreedhar Potarazu, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Treating the park as a fiscal backstop undermines that legacy.
—Shane Harris, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
Sketches are a bit punchier and backdrops more elaborate, though not in a way that undermines the Muppets’ scrappy, analog aesthetic.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
And the Australian the system relies on lump-sum withdrawals, which undermines lifetime income security.
—Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Helmut Paul, Chicago Tribune, 10 Feb. 2026
The association is withdrawing as the official facilitator of the White House meeting, saying the partisan approach undermines collaboration.
—Joey Cappelletti, Los Angeles Times, 10 Feb. 2026
For him, corporate cultural failures aren’t abstract, but arise when leaders neglect defining purpose, allowing drift that undermines performance.
—Jason Phillips, jsonline.com, 10 Feb. 2026
Mai sings in a fake-aloof tone about not wanting to get her hopes up, but the beat’s rickety construction—808s, snaps, live drums, and an urgently ticking clock—undermines her facade.
—H.d. Angel, Pitchfork, 9 Feb. 2026
Such fraud not only undermines patient safety but also erodes the cost savings policymakers hope to achieve.
—Sreedhar Potarazu, Baltimore Sun, 7 Feb. 2026
Treating the park as a fiscal backstop undermines that legacy.
—Shane Harris, San Diego Union-Tribune, 6 Feb. 2026
Sketches are a bit punchier and backdrops more elaborate, though not in a way that undermines the Muppets’ scrappy, analog aesthetic.
—Judy Berman, Time, 3 Feb. 2026
And the Australian the system relies on lump-sum withdrawals, which undermines lifetime income security.
—Teresa Ghilarducci, Forbes.com, 29 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for undermines
Verb
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When the vortex weakens, that tight circle becomes wavier, akin to how a slow-moving river tends to meander in bends across the landscape, Swain says.—
Andrea Thompson,
Scientific American,
9 Feb. 2026
-
In contrast to conventional recycling, which weakens fibers and limits how they can be reused, Uplift360’s non-degenerative method produces material that can go straight back into high-performance supply chains.—
Georgina Jedikovska,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
Confusion emerges as trust erodes Some have applauded the moves.—
Ali Swenson,
Chicago Tribune,
12 Feb. 2026
-
One gets the sense of a man perpetually drawn to the edge of the unknown, as the boy to the edge of the sea—to questions about our primordial origins, about the etiology and eschatology of our planet, about what erodes and what endures.—
Kathryn Schulz,
New Yorker,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
-
If rain severely impairs your vision, pull over and wait for conditions to improve.—
Southern California Weather Report,
Daily News,
11 Feb. 2026
-
Long before neuroscience confirmed it, the sages understood that sustained outrage narrows perception, impairs judgment, and corrodes community.—
Rabbi Bruce D. Forman,
Sun Sentinel,
10 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The meatpacking giant also charges workers when someone takes or damages their personal protective equipment and insists on a three-year agreement, the union said.—
Sam Tabachnik,
Denver Post,
5 Feb. 2026
-
To explore that possibility, researchers at University College London and Queen Square Analytics set out to look beyond symptoms and clinical labels and focus instead on the biological signals of how MS damages the brain.—
New Atlas,
New Atlas,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Undermines.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/undermines. Accessed 16 Feb. 2026.
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