demeaning
Americanadjective
Etymology
Origin of demeaning
Explanation
The adjective demeaning describes something that lowers a person's reputation or dignity. If your boss always asks you to pick up her dry cleaning and get her coffee, you might feel like you usually get the demeaning jobs. The adjective demeaning comes from the verb demean, which itself is based on the construction of the word "debase." The word demean has two almost opposite meanings, to degrade and to conduct oneself in a particular manner, usually a proper one. The adjective, however, always describes something that is degrading. Overhearing two friends gossiping about you can be a demeaning experience, even if they're just criticizing your new haircut.
Vocabulary lists containing demeaning
Into the Wild
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Promises to Keep
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You Call This Democracy?
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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.
Poor Mr. Biswas, a man of meager prospects but irrepressible pride, must suffer through a series of demeaning dwellings to which his in-laws, the emasculating Tulsis, confine him.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 10, 2026
The speech was exploitative, but not demeaning, and the public forgave Nixon.
From Salon ● May 8, 2026
But featuring someone in a demeaning way without permission "may constitute an infringement of both portrait rights and reputation rights", said Li's lawyer Yijie Zhao, from Henan Huailv Law Firm.
From Barron's ● Apr. 24, 2026
Two other officers, PC Victoria Wray and PC Rafal Szmydynski, are also accused of breaching professional police standards after allegedly being involved in an "unjustified", "disproportionate" and "demeaning" strip-search.
From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2025
Bijan seemed to feel sorry for me in a way that I found only a little demeaning, so I didn’t mind his company.
From "A Very Large Expanse of Sea" by Tahereh Mafi
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.
