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Glite Dictionary
to muckrake

to muckrake

1 9.8
To search for and publicly reveal wrongdoing by public figures
  • verb
  • /ˈmʌkˌreɪk/
  • Literature
translation icon : destapar
  • Incensed by the race leader's growing support in the United States and abroad, cultivated by her muckraking newspaper articles and impassioned speeches, the editors of the Constitution regularly attacked Wells for her aggressive campaigns against lynching.
  • muckraking journalist

Examples

  • How, then, to make it maximally profitable for the fourth estate of today to muckrake?

    Blog text (10)

  • Maybe he knows we talked to the "radical, muckraking bastards."

    Dick (1999)

  • At one point in its history, the magazine was a muckraking crusader.

    Academic text (1990)

  • Those radical, muckraking bastards, Woodward and Bernstein... ...at the Washington Post!

    Dick (1999)

  • The "radical, muckraking bastards."

    Dick (1999)

  • Its muckraking protest against the grandmother and her ilk, in contrast, moves into the foreground.

    Academic text (2001)

  • The journalist decided to muckrake and uncover the financial misconduct of local politicians.

  • After years of muckraking, she published a book exposing corruption in the government.

  • He was known to muckrake, revealing secrets about powerful figures in the industry.

Synonyms

to blow the whistle
vsto muckrake
37 5.1

To tell the authorities or the public about wrongdoing

searches out wrongdoing and exposes it publicly rather than just reporting known facts

Antonyms

to ignore
∞ 1.0

Choose not to pay attention to someone or something

to conceal
282 3.7

To hide something so others cannot see or find it

How Public

to muckrake
  • Literature
1 9.8
to denounce
  • Formal
115 6.8
to report
∞ 1.6
to mention
∞ 1.0

Surface Forms

muckrake infinitive
muckraked past
muckraked past participle
muckraking present participle
muckrakes third person singular

Morphology

muckrake = muck + rake (transparent) = muck + rake

The verb is a direct metaphorical compound from 'muck' + 'rake' (to 'rake' through 'muck'), so the meaning of searching out dirt is inferable from its parts.

Etymology

Muckrake comes from muck ('dirt') and rake ('tool to pull up'), like using a rake to lift dirty rubbish out of a yard. A helpful image is 'raking up dirt' about a person, which is why to muckrake means to search for and publicly show someone's scandals.