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"detract" is also used as a crossword clue. If that's what you saw, the answer is often derogate (8 letters).
Definitions
take away a part from; diminish
Word origin
Borrowed from Middle French détracter, from Latin detractum, past participle of detraho.
Used in a sentence
“That calumnious critic […] / Detracting what laboriously we do.”
Source: Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0
Used as a crossword answer1 curated clues
01“Take away value”7 letters
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