demean
1 Americanverb (used with object)
verb (used with object)
noun
verb
verb
Etymology
Origin of demean1
1595–1605; de- + mean 2, modeled on debase
Origin of demean2
1250–1300; Middle English deme ( i ) nen < Anglo-French, Old French demener, equivalent to de- de- + mener to lead, conduct < Latin mināre to drive, minārī to threaten
Explanation
To demean someone is to insult them. To demean is to degrade or put down a person or thing. If you noticed the word mean in demean, that's a good clue to its meaning. To demean someone is very mean. You are demeaning your sister or brother if you run their underwear up a flagpole. A teacher could demean a student by saying "You're stupid!" To demean is to insult: no one wants to be demeaned. Insulting language is often called demeaning. We can also say a bad president demeaned his office.
Vocabulary lists containing demean
ACT Vocabulary List
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The Hunger Games
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The Wednesday Wars
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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.
“We are innately biased against outsiders,” writes David Livingstone Smith in his book “Less Than Human: Why We Demean, Enslave, and Exterminate Others.”
From New York Times • Jun. 14, 2023
Demean, de-mēn′, v.t. to make mean: to lower.
From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various
Demean, Degrade The word demean is often incorrectly used in the sense of degrade, lower.
From Slips of Speech : a Helpful Book for Everyone Who Aspires to Correct the Everyday Errors of Speaking by Bechtel, John Hendricks
Thy humble mien is fitting, girl, but I Am modest, and, thus far, will graciously Demean myself.
From Virginia, A Tragedy And Other Poems by Gilmore, Marion Forster
Demean is related to demeanor and means "behave."
From Word Study and English Grammar A Primer of Information about Words, Their Relations and Their Uses by Hamilton, Frederick W. (Frederick William)
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.
