1
as in to stoop
to descend to a level that is beneath one's dignity
I will not condescend to answer the sore loser's charge that I cheated in order to win the race
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2
as in to patronize
to assume or treat with an air of superiority
wealthy people who tend to be condescending toward their poor relations
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Recent Examples of condescend
Most Americans and Canadians are beyond fed up with the anti-business and anti-democracy policies of condescending leadership.
—
Letters To The Editor, Orange County Register, 8 Jan. 2025
Reagan was mocked, belittled, and condescended to more than any other major politician of his era—and so, today, is Trump.
Consider also the strength of their political positions.
—Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
Those facts aren’t nothing, yet there’s also something about rolling up on Broadway right after the reelection of Donald Trump and expecting to play off decades of nauseating American history with some big yass queen energy that feels simplistic at best, condescending at worst.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Things aren’t much better with his condescending wife Susan (Aisling Bea), who walks all over him and then uses their couples’ therapy sessions to urge him to be even less confrontational.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 5 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for condescend 
Letters To The Editor, Orange County Register, 8 Jan. 2025
Reagan was mocked, belittled, and condescended to more than any other major politician of his era—and so, today, is Trump.
Consider also the strength of their political positions.
—Niall Ferguson, Foreign Affairs, 7 Jan. 2025
Those facts aren’t nothing, yet there’s also something about rolling up on Broadway right after the reelection of Donald Trump and expecting to play off decades of nauseating American history with some big yass queen energy that feels simplistic at best, condescending at worst.
—Sara Holdren, Vulture, 14 Nov. 2024
Things aren’t much better with his condescending wife Susan (Aisling Bea), who walks all over him and then uses their couples’ therapy sessions to urge him to be even less confrontational.
—Christian Zilko, IndieWire, 5 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for condescend
Thesaurus Entries Near condescend
Cite this Entry
“Condescend.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/condescend. Accessed 5 Feb. 2025.
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