as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
there's no need for belittling comments about your brother's trumpet playing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in dismissing
to express scornfully one's low opinion of
belittled the action star's acting ability
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of belittling
Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2023
The boundaries revolve around disrespectful or belittling speech.
—Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 28 Sep. 2020
Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 13 Dec. 2024
To those belittling the Orlando soccer team’s championship, the NWSL is the premier women’s soccer league in the nation and their win is certainly deserving of praise.
—Ticked Off, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for belittling
Adjective
Yet, since sometime before July 23, 2022, an anonymous user has been steadily updating IMDb’s trivia section on Corsage with hostile and belittling comments presented under the guise of background information.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2023
The boundaries revolve around disrespectful or belittling speech.
—Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 28 Sep. 2020
Verb
But these are two of the nation’s leading newspapers trying to curry favor with someone who spent his first term discounting, belittling and attacking media and, as his quote Thursday shows, plans to do so again if journalists cross him.
—Bill Goodykoontz, The Arizona Republic, 13 Dec. 2024
To those belittling the Orlando soccer team’s championship, the NWSL is the premier women’s soccer league in the nation and their win is certainly deserving of praise.
—Ticked Off, Orlando Sentinel, 9 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for belittling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for belittling
Verb
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Top Stories Just before Christmas, Biden egregiously commuted the sentences of 37 out of 40 death row inmates, dismissing years of careful work by prosecutors, judges, and juries.—
The Editors,
National Review,
6 Jan. 2025
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The company stuck to its core DVD rental model while dismissing opportunities to innovate on the periphery.—
ByMargie Warrell,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Even more difficult in the day-to-day is Donald Trump’s relentless and insulting commentary.—
Ken Dryden,
The Atlantic,
23 Feb. 2025
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The incredibly insulting idea of canceling the name of the prolific U.S. Rep. Henry Hyde was bad enough.—
Naperville Sun,
Chicago Tribune,
21 Feb. 2025
Verb
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This approach ensures a steady cash flow by minimizing overdue payments and reduces the risk of bad debt through proactive monitoring and segmentation.—
Ashish Srimal,
Forbes,
27 Dec. 2024
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Initially, the focus has been on minimizing toil and automating certain tasks, like anomaly detection and root cause analysis, which then gives engineers more time to solve more complex issues.—
Tom Wilkie,
Forbes,
26 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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While handcuffing and removing the belts and shoelaces of deportees is standard practice in this type of operation, both Oquendo and Barrientos feel they were treated in a demeaning way by US immigration officials, especially when boarding the military flight in the early hours of Sunday.—
Stefano Pozzebon,
CNN,
29 Jan. 2025
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How Sculptor Meta Warrick Challenged White Supremacy A 1907 exhibition on the founding of Jamestown featured the work of an artist determined to counter demeaning stereotypes.—
JSTOR Daily,
JSTOR Daily,
20 Feb. 2025
Verb
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However, as the FOMC has cut interest rates since last summer, that risk though material today, is diminishing.—
Simon Moore,
Forbes,
7 Jan. 2025
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The party came to end with a first-round loss at Notre Dame – IU’s other defeat was against another CFP semifinalist in Ohio State — but there is no diminishing what the Hoosiers accomplished this season.—
Tom Layberger,
Forbes,
6 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Verb
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While most have become accustomed and perhaps even oblivious to McGregor’s online rants, openly criticizing a business partner is a little dicey.—
Brian Mazique,
Forbes,
23 Dec. 2024
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Shiney-Ajay said Harris should have spent additional time criticizing lawmakers—like Manchin and Congressional Republicans—who limited the administration's climate goals, using it as a chance to emphasize her intent to seek greater climate victories in the future.—
Alex J. Rouhandeh,
Newsweek,
23 Dec. 2024
Adjective
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Incentives for employees to resign or retire could lead to a loss of experienced staff, further degrading service quality.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
4 Mar. 2025
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Drill sergeants now minimize their use of profanity, insults and degrading remarks and strive to become support figures for trainees.—
Cybele Mayes-Osterman,
USA TODAY,
25 Jan. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Belittling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belittling. Accessed 14 Mar. 2025.
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