undermine
to weaken from below or secretly
Roots
Other words with the mine root
- mine: a tunnel or pit dug for minerals; to dig under
Undermine means weaken the support underneath something.
The missing data undermined the report's confident conclusion.
Undermine is a plain but powerful compound. A mine can tunnel beneath a wall; an argument, habit, or institution can be weakened from below until it no longer stands securely.