Condescension
//kɑndiˈsɛnʃən// noun
noun ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 The act of condescending; a manner of behaving in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies superiority to another; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors. uncountable, usually
"Conscious condescension breeds panderers and enemies, not friends."
- 2 affability to your inferiors and temporary disregard for differences of position or rank wordnet
- 3 A patronizing attitude or behavior. derogatory, uncountable, usually
"He's a snob of the first water and views the lower orders with infinite condescension."
- 4 the trait of displaying arrogance by patronizing those considered inferior wordnet
- 5 Courtesy, affability of a superior towards an inferior. archaic, uncountable, usually
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- 6 a communication that indicates lack of respect by patronizing the recipient wordnet
Example
More examples"Your impertinent attempts at national self-humilitiation have the vagary of a demented maniac, provide you with no condescension but accumulate contempt in the eyes of others and your total worthlessness is congruentially equivallent to your repugnantly low grammatic skills."
Etymology
From Latin condēscēnsiō.
Related phrases
More for "condescension"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.