patronize
Americanverb (used with object)
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to give (a store, restaurant, hotel, etc.) one's regular patronage; trade with.
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to behave in an offensively condescending manner toward.
a professor who patronizes his students.
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to act as a patron toward (an artist, institution, etc.); support.
verb
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to behave or treat in a condescending way
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(tr) to act as a patron or patroness by sponsoring or bringing trade to
Usage
What does patronize mean? To patronize is to be a customer (or patron) of a business or other establishment. In this sense, patronize most often means to be a paying customer, especially a regular one. However, you can patronize establishments that are not businesses—you can patronize a library, for example. Example: I patronize local shops and restaurants whenever I can in order to support people in my own community, instead of enriching faceless corporations. Patronize also means to act condescendingly toward a person in a way that arrogantly implies that you’re being kind or helpful to that person. This often takes the form of speaking to someone as if they were a child. Someone who acts in this way can be described as patronizing. Example: Don’t patronize me, Jeff—I understand the topic just as well as you do.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of patronize
Explanation
If you patronize a business, you shop there regularly. But if someone patronizes you, it's not so pleasant — they talk to you as if you were inferior or not very intelligent. Patronize comes from Latin patronus "protector, master," related to pater "father." So if you patronize a person, you talk down to them like a father might do to his child or a master to his apprentice. If you want to take an advanced class and your advisor warns you of all the hard work, you can tell him to stop patronizing you — you know a hard class involves hard work. This sounds much better than saying, "I'm not stupid!"
Vocabulary lists containing patronize
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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.
Patronize them when you can and remember to wear a mask when you do.
From Washington Post • Jun. 30, 2020
Patronize establishments like Schnipper’s, which has offered to donate $1 from every chicken filet sandwich it sells this month to Marriage Equality USA.
From Salon • Aug. 1, 2012
Patronize big stores where prices are plainly marked.
From Time Magazine Archive
His small-town merchant advice: "Patronize your local art exhibitions."
From Time Magazine Archive
Cooper, J. Fennimore—his Encouragement of Greenough, i, 66; his Letter to Induce his Countrymen to Patronize their own Artists, i, 67.
From Anecdotes of Painters, Engravers, Sculptors and Architects and Curiosities of Art (Vol. 3 of 3) by Spooner, Shearjashub
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.
