condescend
verb
Simple meaning
To treat someone as though inferior.
Pronunciation
Say it like this:
kahndihsehndSay the bold part a little louder.
IPA pronunciation (US)
kɑndɪˈsɛnd
This word is pronounced essentially the same in American and British English, so one transcription covers both.
IPA (International Phonetic Alphabet) is a standard way of writing speech sounds.
Definition
Everyday modern meanings first, grouped by part of speech.
verb
intransitivefigurative
To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.
intransitivefigurative
To come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.
intransitivefigurative
Chiefly followed by on or upon: to go into detail; to particularize, to specify.
intransitivefigurative
(obsolete) To agree to something; to accede, to assent, to consent; also, to reach an agreement.
intransitivefigurative
(obsolete) To give way or yield in a deferential manner; to be amenable or compliant.
intransitivefigurative
(obsolete) To graciously give; to vouchsafe.
Word Aura™
How this word commonly comes across.
Aura for this meaning
This meaning: (figurative) To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.
Used this way, condescend is a reasonably familiar word that usually carries little praise or criticism of its own. It usually sounds natural in a wide range of settings.
- Emotional tone
- Neutral
- Formality
- Neutral
- Intensity
- Not strongly marked
- How common
- Moderately common
- Connotation
- No strong connotation
- Usage feel
- Neutral and straightforward
Word Aura describes common impressions, not a measurement. Tone changes with sentence, speaker, relationship and situation.
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More about this wordSynonyms, forms, origin
Synonyms
Sense: to treat someone as though inferior
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Dictionary data from Wiktionary via the Free Dictionary API. Simple meanings, combinations and word intelligence are built from verified reference data, no AI is used to load this page.