"deprecating" in the verb sense
1. deprecate
express strong disapproval of deplore
2. deprecate, depreciate, vilipend
belittle
"The teacher should not deprecate his student's efforts"
"deprecating" in the adjective sense
1. belittling, deprecating, deprecative, deprecatory, depreciative, depreciatory, slighting
tending to diminish or disparage
"belittling comments"
"managed a deprecating smile at the compliment"
"deprecatory remarks about the book"
"a slighting remark"
Source: WordNet® (An amazing lexical database of English)
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