/ dɪˈnaʊns; NAmE / verb [ vn ]
1.
denounce sb/sth (as sth) to strongly criticize sb/sth that you think is wrong, illegal, etc. :
She publicly denounced the government's handling of the crisis.
The project was denounced as a scandalous waste of public money.
2.
denounce sb (as sth) to tell the police, the authorities, etc. about sb's illegal political activities :
They were denounced as spies.
Many people denounced their neighbours to the secret police.
—see also denunciation
••
WORD ORIGIN
Middle English (originally in the sense proclaim , also proclaim someone to be wicked, a rebel, etc. ): from Old French denoncier , from Latin denuntiare give official information, based on nuntius messenger.