condescend
Americanverb (used without object)
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condescends,
present (3rd person singular)
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condescended,
past participle, past
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condescending
present participle
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to behave as if one is conscious of descending from a superior position, rank, or dignity.
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to stoop or deign to do something.
He would not condescend to misrepresent the facts.
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to put aside one's dignity or superiority voluntarily and assume equality with one regarded as inferior.
He condescended to their intellectual level in order to be understood.
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Obsolete.
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to yield.
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to assent.
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verb
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to act graciously towards another or others regarded as being on a lower level; behave patronizingly
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to do something that one regards as below one's dignity
Usage
What does condescend mean? Condescend commonly means to interact with others in a way that implies that you’re superior to them. It especially refers to when this is done in an arrogant or patronizing way—meaning when you act as if you’re doing someone a favor by supposedly lowering yourself to their level of understanding or intelligence. This sense of the word is often used with the word to and the recipient of such behavior, as in Don’t condescend to me. This sense of condescend is always used negatively and implies that such behavior is insulting to the person or people it’s directed toward. The adjective condescending is used to describe people who act in such a way, or their words or actions, as in condescending tone. Condescending often involves not only what is said but also how it’s said. A condescending tone is often one that sounds like it’s directed at a child. Condescend can also mean to stoop to a lower level or to do something that one considers as below one's dignity. A close synonym of this sense of the word is deign. The act of condescending is called condescension. Example: Why do you feel the need to condescend every time you explain something?
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
condescendsimple
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condescendssimple
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have condescendedperfect
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has condescendedperfect
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am condescendingprogressive
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are condescendingprogressive
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is condescendingprogressive
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have been condescendingperfect progressive
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has been condescendingperfect progressive
Past
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condescendedsimple
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had condescendedperfect
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was condescendingprogressive
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were condescendingprogressive
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had been condescendingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of condescend
First recorded in 1300–50; Middle English condescenden, from Late Latin condēscendere ( see con-, descend); replacing Middle English condescendre, from Middle French
Explanation
A snooty waiter might condescend to serve you dinner at a fancy restaurant, meaning that he'd consider himself far too important to carry out the mundane task of delivering your hamburger and fries. You might have noticed that condescend contains the word descend, meaning to move down from a higher place. You can think of condescend as lowering yourself to do a task that you feel is far beneath you. Kings and queens would never condescend to do their own laundry at the palace, for example. If they even knew how to do the laundry, you can be sure they'd do it in a condescending, or superior, way to let everyone know that housework is no task for a monarch.
Vocabulary lists containing condescend
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 1–6
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Grade 10, List 3
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The Adventures of Tom Sawyer
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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:
"When I started coaching women for the first time, I did not condescend to them," said Dorrance.
From BBC ● Jul. 2, 2025
Don’t question the character of his backers or condescend; appeal to their interests and positive dreams.
From Seattle Times ● May 26, 2024
Yet the paintings never gave the viewer permission to condescend to the subject matter.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 27, 2021
She offers a simple, elegant solution, one that does not pander, condescend or dumb down.
From New York Times ● Oct. 7, 2021
“And it’s wrong of you to think that love leaves room for nothing else. It’s possible to love something and still condescend to it.”
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
In the American psyche, it’s the Miss Millie story line from Alice Walker’s “The Color Purple,” about someone so blinded by a conception of her own virtue that it doesn’t register when she condescends.
From Seattle Times ● May 2, 2024
"Three 'verys'. Wow," he condescends, then signals her to lay her pitch on him.
From Salon ● May 8, 2023
Hopkins, a graduate of Winchester school and Cambridge University, condescends to his neighbors in Beadle.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 2, 2023
He closes practices, condescends with the press and refuses to attend alumni functions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2019
Sometimes he condescends to play for minutes with his cubs.
From Feminism and Sex-Extinction by Arabella Kenealy
He was popular, but for a long time the critics condescended to him, calling him a lightweight Sunday painter and deriding him for his “matchstick” figures.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
Still, she never condescended to or attacked Trump’s supporters.
From Salon ● Sep. 18, 2024
“The consistency of the experience of going to doctor after doctor, seeking help, and being disbelieved and condescended to is really surprising to me,” Garvin said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2023
While Morris makes space not only for abstract painting but for other variously condescended aesthetic forms, Bradley, not having had the luxury of such freedom, makes space only for himself.
From New York Times ● Nov. 3, 2022
Lin felt condescended to, that they treated her like a child.
From "Boots on the Ground: America's War in Vietnam" by Elizabeth Partridge
That included unpleasant exchanges in public transport, conflicts with neighbours, or condescending remarks.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
She described what Sir Chris said as "a little bit condescending".
From BBC ● Sep. 18, 2026
It’s condescending and hacky and the humor always aims for the lowest common denominator.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 21, 2026
The Danish executives “have this condescending view of American healthcare,” a former Novo staffer said.
From MarketWatch ● Aug. 5, 2026
“Excuse me, but if this seems condescending, I assure you it’s not...but are you really locked to that flagpole?”
From "Anger Is a Gift" by Mark Oshiro
Definitions 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.
