belittle
Americanverb (used with object)
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belittles,
present (3rd person singular)
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belittled,
past participle, past
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belittling
present participle
verb
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to consider or speak of (something) as less valuable or important than it really is; disparage
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to cause to make small; dwarf
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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belittlesimple
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belittlessimple
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have belittledperfect
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has belittledperfect
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am belittlingprogressive
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are belittlingprogressive
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is belittlingprogressive
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have been belittlingperfect progressive
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has been belittlingperfect progressive
Past
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belittledsimple
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had belittledperfect
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was belittlingprogressive
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were belittlingprogressive
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had been belittlingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of belittle
Explanation
To belittle means to put down, or to make another person feel as though they aren't important. Saying mean things about another person literally makes them feel "little." To belittle someone is a cruel way of making someone else seem less important than yourself. A candidate for office might belittle his opponent by pointing out during a press conference that his fellow candidate has an inferior intellect. Belittling doesn't have to come in the form of verbal abuse. A manager who forces his administrative assistant to scrub his office floor with a toothbrush belittles her as well.
Vocabulary lists containing belittle
100 SAT Words Beginning with "B"
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Vocabulary from the Third and Final Presidential Debate, October 19, 2016
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This Week in Words: September 29 - October 5, 2018
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
That point is proved time and again, as editors scheme against each other, belittle each other’s literary taste and throw Batter under the bus whenever an opportunity arises.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 13, 2026
"People who make unnecessary remarks, belittle those in pain or seek to cause them further suffering at this sensitive time are criminals," Shah wrote in a Facebook post.
From BBC ● Sep. 8, 2026
Chinese diplomats told me the staging wasn’t meant to belittle Putin, noting that the two figures occupy roughly equal portions of the picture’s frame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 21, 2026
Some see the encounter between four-time major singles champion Sabalenka and Australia's former world number 13 Kyrgios as harmless entertainment, but others believe it could belittle the women's game if Sabalenka loses.
From BBC ● Dec. 11, 2025
And so geologists took every pain they could think of to dismiss his evidence and belittle his suggestions.
From "A Short History of Nearly Everything" by Bill Bryson
“I think it belittles memory,” she says, wrinkling her nose in distaste at the still-standing house.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 6, 2026
It saddens me to say but relegation may be the only way forward to rescue this club from the poor quality ownership that belittles this once proud club.
From BBC ● Jan. 3, 2026
Cronin belittles players for making mistakes, but lacks personal accountability.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 13, 2024
“There will be no compromise with any party that challenges, belittles or violates Malaysian laws,” he said in a statement on Facebook.
From Seattle Times ● Jul. 22, 2023
“Not monster movies. My sister, as usual, belittles my chosen medium. Want to know the tide?”
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
It is fascinating to me that Thomas, who genuinely feels belittled by every single thing that has ever happened to him, has somehow gotten smaller on the job.
From Slate ● Apr. 17, 2026
The person in front signals, “I’m in charge, you follow me,” while the one behind feels belittled.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 9, 2026
US President Donald Trump said Friday that Colombian President Gustavo Petro, a leftist his administration long belittled, will visit the White House next month as he voiced optimism for ties.
From Barron's ● Jan. 9, 2026
Anyone presenting information not approved by the ruler is denounced and belittled, ostracized and denied access.
From Salon ● Oct. 10, 2025
The Party shall continue unabated, in full festival Mode, for some few weeks thereafter, or until the belittled Pestilence has run its course through the Assembled.
From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume I: The Pox Party" by M.T. Anderson
In 1971, Steinem co-founded Ms. magazine, run exclusively by women, for women, and born from conversations with other women writers who’d grown exhausted with the belittling conventions and blind spots of male-dominated media.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
And the teenage provocateur made no secret of that revulsion, loudly belittling his fellow students.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 9, 2025
A Britain's Got Talent comic says internet trolls have not upset him, but he wants people to realise belittling someone on the internet "is sad".
From BBC ● Jun. 3, 2025
Dr. Chernin acknowledged how stressful those conversations can be, sometimes deteriorating into finger-pointing, belittling or stonewalling.
From New York Times ● May 17, 2024
It probably seemed like I was belittling a moment they'd been waiting years to experience.
From "Americanized" by Sara Saedi
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Get a wordDefinitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
