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
And now the White House deigns to respond to a website that claims the President of the United States is illegitimate.
How Israeli Government Officials Fueled A Conspiracy Website Story About Iran | Ali Gharib | January 28, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTAt the moment it appears that Morsi will have whatever powers the Supreme Military Council deigns to award him.
If he deigns to appear to some men, he takes care to keep all others in an invincible ignorance of his divine intentions.
Good Sense | Paul Henri Thiry, Baron D'HolbachStill, I should like her to think of me, if she ever deigns to do it, with all kindness and good-will.
Remain, in pity to me, remain open while this divine maiden deigns yet to dwell on this earth.
Does he subsist upon air or odor, that he is forever upon the wing, and never deigns to pick a seed or crumb from the earth?
But the grander that power is, which deigns to tend and wait upon you, the more you are called upon to honour it.
The Memorabilia | Xenophon
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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