condescending
[ kon-duh-sen-ding ]
/ ˌkɒn dəˈsɛn dɪŋ /
Save This Word!
adjective
showing or implying a usually patronizing descent from dignity or superiority: They resented the older neighbors' condescending cordiality.
OTHER WORDS FOR condescending
QUIZ
QUIZ YOURSELF ON AFFECT VS. EFFECT!
In effect, this quiz will prove whether or not you have the skills to know the difference between “affect” and “effect.”
Question 1 of 7
The rainy weather could not ________ my elated spirits on my graduation day.
Meet Grammar CoachImprove Your Writing
Origin of condescending
First recorded in 1630–40; condescend + -ing2
OTHER WORDS FROM condescending
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022
How to use condescending in a sentence
Under Mr. Bryant the Evening Post was an old-fashioned newspaper of uncondescending, uncompromising dignity.
Recollections of a Varied Life|George Cary Eggleston
British Dictionary definitions for condescending
condescending
/ (ˌkɒndɪˈsɛndɪŋ) /
adjective
showing or implying condescension by stooping to the level of one's inferiors, esp in a patronizing way
Derived forms of condescending
condescendingly, adverbCollins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012