The meaning of DEPRECATE is to express disapproval of. How to use deprecate in a sentence. Deprecation is an improvement mechanism commonly used in software development, particularly where projects involve a large community of users or coders, or have long or complex development histories, or are rapidly iterating (thus generating more supersedence). While a deprecated software feature remains in the software, its use may raise warning messages recommending alternatives or alternative practices. Deprecated status may also indicate the feature will be removed in the future ... Deprecated means to express disapproval of, belittle, or mark as obsolete. Learn the origin, synonyms, and examples of deprecate and how to avoid confusion with depreciate. I think the Wikipedia-article on Deprecation answers this one pretty well: In the process of authoring computer software, its standards or documentation, deprecation is a status applied to software features to indicate that they should be avoided, typically because they have been superseded. Although deprecated features remain in the software, their use may raise warning messages recommending alternative practices, and deprecation may indicate that the feature will be removed in the future ...