(v. t.) To make little or less in a moral sense; to speak of in a depreciatory or contemptuous way.
Example Sentences:
(1) Harping on endlessly about a woman’s hair, legs and handbag instead of her ideas and achievements can be horribly belittling, a way of refusing to take her seriously as a professional.
(2) This is a dangerous moment for politics in Britain: it is not the moment to ignore or belittle the angry cry from voters telling us they are deeply sick of politics as usual.
(3) The more they feel insulted and belittled, the stronger their support for Corbyn.
(4) Comment is perfectly legitimate, but the sneering, supercilious, specious and dismissive contributions masquerading as ‘commentary’ belittle the claims of a ‘quality’ paper.” Before attempting to assess the validity of the reader’s analysis – broadly shared by some other readers – I think his email reflects one or two other interesting aspects of the demographics of the Guardian’s readership and the left.
(5) It happens within a society where we repeatedly hear victims dismissed, belittled and disbelieved at best, or, at worst,blamed for their own assaults.
(6) Perhaps Gove should attend some history lessons taught by the professionals he so belittles so that he can learn how to read and cite sources properly.
(7) That is not to belittle HIV – it is a life-changing condition, and some of the treatments have their side-effects – but, as HIV expert Prof Jonathan Weber put it to me, the treatment regimens developed in the mid-1990s are “so successful it’s like a miracle”.
(8) They had a candidate with pro-Putin, pro-Russian views who belittled Nato, who was willing to potentially remove sanctions on Russia and by contrast they had in Secretary Clinton a candidate very tough on Russia.
(9) Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said: "I regret the Australian PM statement belittling the phone-tapping in Indonesia without feeling guilty.
(10) The eccentric, gonzo-ish path that Vice has chosen to pursue instead has itself come in for sharp criticism from detractors among those he belittles as football-chasers.
(11) Modotti, Ollin and, to a lesser degree, Novo (who was ultimately a man and therefore less irritating to those in power), were cast aside and belittled by those who had it in their power to do so.
(12) He reacted angrily to a question about his father’s comments to the Guardian, claiming words were put in his mouth and accusing the media of trying to belittle the closure.
(13) The last Labour government sometimes appeared to belittle the concerns of those who were fearful of the pace of change, or longed for stability or order."
(14) It is acceptable to criticise and belittle Islam because it is a religion, not an ethnic grouping – and therefore fair game.
(15) "People belittled me, implying that it was my fault and that I shouldn't be an independent woman," she added.
(16) In 2010 Lula came under fire after belittling the plight of political prisoners on hunger strike in Cuba. "
(17) What strikes me, as it must have done him, is the way in which the intention behind the article – to belittle the food bank initiative – was turned on its head by the social media backlash.
(18) With no intention of belittling the importance of chronic ischemic heart disease (CIHD) in modern cardiology, the article focuses the attention on primary alcoholic heart disease--alcoholic cardiomyopathy (ACMP)--which arouses a far from causal interest due to the prevalence of alcoholism.
(19) In treating Plath as simply an object of sympathy, I suspect I have belittled her.
(20) Demirtas has been the target of fierce campaign attacks by Erdogan, who belittled him a “pretty boy” who is merely a front for the outlawed separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK).
Derogatory
Definition:
(a.) Tending to derogate, or lessen in value; expressing derogation; detracting; injurious; -- with from to, or unto.
Example Sentences:
(1) So again, they did what they had to and should do.” Aakjaer’s Facebook account also contained other derogatory references to eastern Europeans, a message of support for the right-wing Dansk Folkeparti’s views about border control and a photograph of six pigs with a caption: “It’s time to deploy our secret weapons against Islamists.” When Aakjaer was contacted by the Guardian in January, he said that he was not “a racist at all”.
(2) While those "close relation[s]" are not supposed to be passed on for watchlisting absent other "derogatory information", their data may be retained within TIDE for unspecified "analytic purposes".
(3) Dunham similarly opted for a snarky introduction, invoking Trump’s derogatory comments toward women the crowd: “I’m Lena Dunham and, according to Donald Trump, I’m like a two.” Both actors were early supporters of Clinton’s and stumped for her during the Democratic primary.
(4) Then there is the bedroom tax (it is always a good moment for an opposition when they make a derogatory label stick to a policy), which the Department for Work and Pensions estimates will affect 660,000 tenants.
(5) The few alluring aspect of these patients would signify the derogatory imago of a destroyed body, that does not be the mediator of the relationship to the other.
(6) Andy Gray, the Sky Sports presenter at the centre of a sexism storm following derogatory comments about a female official, has been sacked by the broadcaster in response to "new evidence of unacceptable and offensive behaviour".
(7) Wilson began hearing voices "saying derogatory things", telling him that he was finished and was going to die soon, a condition that continues to this day.
(8) The ASA said that the ads did not directly link the word "pussy" with women and so was not derogatory or sexist to women.
(9) Retrospective media analysis would probably show that the term welfare was used increasingly during the 1990s often in a derogatory manner – a 1993 Sunday Times splash about lone mothers being "wedded to welfare" being a typical example.
(10) I mean, it’s interesting; last year I was here there was a Ukip town councillor who said derogatory things about gay marriage, it was a national news story, it led on some of the BBC bulletins.
(11) The Conservative MP Tracey Crouch, who sits on Parliament's culture, media and sport select committee, told the Mirror, "It's disappointing at a time when he's trying to encourage more women to play football that he is using derogatory terminology."
(12) The players admitted to an exchange studded with offensive terms including "cunt", "fuck off" and "knobhead", plus derogatory personal comments, with Ferdinand referring to claims Terry had an affair with Vanessa Perroncel, the former partner of his ex-team-mate Wayne Bridge.
(13) Kathimerini has the details : Pulled up,,,for using derogatory language, Iliopoulos went further, condemning fellow MPs as "wretched sell-outs" and "goats".
(14) While in a separate exchange on Facebook, of which the Daily Mail has photographs, Edoardo called another fan a “moron” during a heated exchange and also used another derogatory term.
(15) Former footballer Stan Collymore has accused Twitter of not doing enough to combat illegal abuse on the network, during a week when he and the former gymnast Beth Tweddle have both been subjected to derogatory comments.
(16) Managers who are derogatory, angry, or arrogant find that confrontation is ineffective in motivating their staff to improve.
(17) They included derogatory messages about Smith as a Jew, the South Korean international Kim Bo-kyung, reportedly four other offensive texts, and a reference to Vincent Tan, Cardiff City’s Malaysian owner, as “the Chink”.
(18) Starting today, we’re taking a tougher stance on hateful, offensive and derogatory content,” Schindler says.
(19) While this is reflective of a wider societal problem , teachers can do their bit by cracking down on language when it is used in a derogatory or abusive way.
(20) Three hours after reading the text, 58 of the subjects were exposed to a non-factual, derogatory comment on the World Cup.