deign
to think it appropriate to or in accordance with one's dignity; condescend: He would not deign to discuss the matter with us.
to condescend to give or grant: He deigned no reply.
Obsolete. to condescend to accept.
Origin of deign
1Words that may be confused with deign
- deign , dine
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use deign in a sentence
Or, at least, the data that Buyology has deigned to share publicly.
Experts Bash Report Saying Shopping Explained by Politics | Jesse Singal | June 30, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTThe one thing I can say for sure is that Justice Scalia is extremely annoyed that Congress deigned to pass an individual mandate.
7 Experts Try to Read Supreme Court Health-Care Tea Leaves | Matthew DeLuca | March 29, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTNot even the old Mob that founded Las Vegas gambling would have deigned to be so greedy.
Nancy Watling deigned no reply to his farewell salutation, but walked indignantly across her moon-lighted lawn.
The World Before Them | Susanna MoodieHe eyed Bumble askance as he entered, but scarcely deigned to nod his head in acknowledgment of his salutation.
Oliver Twist, Vol. II (of 3) | Charles Dickens
Isabel deigned no reply, and he took possession of a deep chair, settled himself on his backbone, and regarded her attentively.
Ancestors | Gertrude AthertonMaigrot did not know a word of Chinese; but the emperor deigned to grant that he should be told what he understood by King-tien.
A Philosophical Dictionary, Volume 1 (of 10) | Franois-Marie Arouet (AKA Voltaire)Yet he continued to haunt my window, and seemed rejoiced whenever I deigned to notice him.
My Ten Years' Imprisonment | Silvio Pellico
British Dictionary definitions for deign
/ (deɪn) /
(intr) to think it fit or worthy of oneself (to do something); condescend: he will not deign to speak to us
(tr) archaic to vouchsafe: he deigned no reply
Origin of deign
1Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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