Patronising

adj, verb

adj, verb ·Rare ·Advanced level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    present participle and gerund of patronise form-of, gerund, participle, present
Adjective
  1. 1
    Alternative spelling of patronizing. UK, alt-of, alternative

    "As for the IRP, Secretary of State Grant Shapps continues to peddle snake oil, smoke and mirrors. His reaction to near-universal IRP condemnation from politicians, local and national media, and all but a few rail specialists was to dismiss the lot of us (in the condescending and patronising tone we have now come to expect) as "critics and naysayers"."

Adjective
  1. 1
    (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
condescendingarchcondescendingpatronizing

Example

More examples

"Narcissists are often snobbish, disdainful and patronising of others' opinions, while, at the same time, having an overwhelming need for admiration and reassurance."

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.