belittle
Contents
EnglishEdit
EtymologyEdit
From be- + little. Coined by Thomas Jefferson in 1782 in "Notes on the State of Virginia": "So far the Count de Buffon has carried this new theory of the tendency of nature to belittle her productions on this side the Atlantic."
PronunciationEdit
VerbEdit
belittle (third-person singular simple present belittles, present participle belittling, simple past and past participle belittled)
- To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is.
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2006, Mark Steyn, chapter 9, in America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, ISBN 0895260786, page 201:
- Under the rules as understood by the New York Times, the West is free to mock and belittle its Judeo-Christian inheritance, and, likewise, the Muslim world is free to mock and belittle the West's Judeo-Christian inheritance.
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Usage notesEdit
Often has a derogatory social connotation. Such as: to treat as worthless, to denigrate, to degrade, to deprecate, or to disparage
Related termsEdit
SynonymsEdit
AntonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit
to knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is
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