disembellish

English

Etymology

From dis- +‎ embellish: compare French désembellir.

Verb

disembellish (third-person singular simple present disembellishes, present participle disembellishing, simple past and past participle disembellished)

1. (transitive) To deprive of embellishment; to undecorate.
   • 1831, Thomas Carlyle, “Pure Reason”, in Sartor Resartus: The Life and Opinions of Herr Teufelsdröckh. […], London: Chapman and Hall, […], →OCLC, 1st book, page 47:

     [G]ive it up, and weep, not that the reign of wonder is done, and God's world all disembellished and prosaic, but that thou hitherto art a Dilettante and sandblind Pedant.

Related terms

• disembellishment

References

• “disembellish”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.