Word: detract
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...stump speech need not make sense or state an argument lucidly. Such precision would detract from its real purpose--to excite the uneducated and impress upon them the identification of the speaker with "traditional values." The phrases must pour forth in magnificent thunder, roll like waves across the audience. Any attempt at argument might confuse the people--or if they understood it, enrage them. Unfortunately for the Honorable Governor, his audience at Sanders wanted clear argument. Three professors of law were on hand to debate substantive issues in intelligible terms. Ross gave them only patriotic sentiments, eloquent appeals to liberty...
...formerly an event for friendly athletic competition, have thus been recognized by the U.S. government as an appropriate test of the advantages of capitalism and communism. This has long been the opinion of numerous misled sports writers and individuals, much to the detriment of the games. Government interference will detract still further from the purposes of the games, perhaps to the extent of destroying them as sporting events...
...color)? Actually, there are many reasons why he became intrigued by the Armada, from the fact that it set sail on May 9,* his birthday, to the fact that it is in every Spaniard's blood. Most of the paintings are small, but their scale does not detract from their impact. The ships struggle against wind and fire in a kind of wild dance; they glow bright red, founder among emerald waves, finally surrender to the sloshing rhythm of the sea. There is always high drama in the fall of a great fleet, and Julio de Diego has caught...
...think Robbins has carried some of his gimmicking too far, notably the collapsible furniture and the doors that open and close on their own. This is the sort of thing one does to cover up a weak script; here it tends to detract from a strong and self-sufficient script. But the audience relished all of this, and I suppose there's no point in railing against success...
...past few weeks, Harvard athletes have covered themselves and the University with their own particular kind of glory. Some members of this intellectual community will shrug off the triumphs of Harvard teams, and many will never even know that they occurred. But nothing should detract from the magnitude of these achievements; in their own realm, they represent what Harvard is searching for in every field--excellence...