patronize
to give (a store, restaurant, hotel, etc.) one's regular patronage; trade with.
to behave in an offensively condescending manner toward: a professor who patronizes his students.
to act as a patron toward (an artist, institution, etc.); support.
Origin of patronize
1- Also especially British, pa·tron·ise .
Other words from patronize
- pa·tron·iz·a·ble, adjective
- pa·tron·i·za·tion, noun
- pa·tron·iz·er, noun
- re·pa·tron·ize, verb (used with object), re·pa·tron·ized, re·pa·tron·iz·ing.
- trans·pa·tron·ize, verb (used with object), trans·pa·tron·ized, trans·pa·tron·iz·ing.
- un·pa·tron·iz·a·ble, adjective
- well-pa·tron·ized, adjective
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use patronize in a sentence
“Oh, perhaps you mean Tower Street” said the constable, with a patronising smile.
The Garret and the Garden | R.M. BallantyneIt was improving and patronising and treacly, and full of information, partly about the lectures, but mostly about himself.
The Romance of His Life | Mary CholmondeleyTowards myself he had begun by adopting a patronising attitude, which, however, he had soon dropped.
A Frontier Mystery | Bertram MitfordHamerton, patronising in his estimate of Whistler's work, exaggerated in his comments on Whistler's prices.
The Life of James McNeill Whistler | Elizabeth Robins PennellBut he spoke to me kindly, with the sort of kindness that there is sometimes in his voice, patronising and reluctant of course.
The Dark Forest | Hugh Walpole
British Dictionary definitions for patronize
patronise
/ (ˈpætrəˌnaɪz) /
to behave or treat in a condescending way
(tr) to act as a patron or patroness by sponsoring or bringing trade to
Derived forms of patronize
- patronizer or patroniser, noun
Collins 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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