denigrate vs pick at

denigrate and pick at both are verbs.

Word	Noun	Adjective	Verb	Adverb
denigrate	No	No	Yes	No
pick at	No	No	Yes	No

As verbs, pick at is a hypernym of denigrate; that is, pick at is a word with a broader meaning than denigrate:

Other hypernyms of denigrate include belittle, disparage.

denigrate (verb)	pick at (verb)
cause to seem less serious; play down	express a negative opinion of
charge falsely or with malicious intent; attack the good name and reputation of someone	eat like a bird
	pluck or pull at with the fingers