talk down

verb

1. to behave (towards) in a superior or haughty manner

2. (tr) to override (a person or argument) by continuous or loud talking

3. (tr) to give instructions to (an aircraft) by radio to enable it to land

Idioms and Phrases

Belittle, depreciate, as in They talked down the importance of the move .

Silence someone by speaking loudly and persistently, as in They talked down whatever objections she brought up . [Early 1800s]

Help an aircraft to land by giving directions via radio, as in The fog was so thick the control tower had to talk us down . [c. 1940]

See talk down to .

Example Sentences

Honoré tried to be a steadying force in a misinformation maelstrom and found himself veering between comforting the sickly and frightened and talking down heavily armed military forces training their guns on harmless flood victims.

From Salon

"We feel like we're being talked down to like stupid children."

From BBC

The piece talked down to Roan and diminished her requests as childish and unthinking — ironic for something as petulant as the column reads.

From Salon

The world is full of voices telling adolescents they don’t matter and don’t understand anything, so a good YA book shouldn’t talk down to teens or portray them as helpless.

From Los Angeles Times

Inside government officials hope that Wednesday's announcement sets a "ceiling" on negotiations, not the final price, and can be talked down.

From BBC