(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).
Detractor
Definition:
Example Sentences:
(1) We simply do whatever nature needs and will work with anyone that wants to help wildlife.” His views might come as a surprise to some of the RSPB’s 1.1 million members, who would have been persuaded by its original pledge “to discourage the wanton destruction of birds”; they would equally have been a surprise to the RSPB’s detractors in the shooting world.
(2) Screening has many detractors, especially in the treatment camp.
(3) Behaving like the oldest kid on the block is just one of the things that Larry Clark's detractors hold against him.
(4) Tony Abbott has heard the message on the need to change his leadership style, a senior minister has said, warning the prime minister’s detractors against moving an “amateur-hour” spill motion next week.
(5) Barack Obama and secretary of state John Kerry have warned detractors that they would be unable to reimpose a multinational trade embargo if congress rejects the plans .
(6) His many detractors said that Peres simply had no choice.
(7) Culture secretary Sajid Javid has said that ticket touts are “classic entrepreneurs” and their detractors are the “chattering middle classes and champagne socialists, who have no interest in helping the common working man earn a decent living by acting as a middleman”.
(8) Fortunately for his detractors, who bristle at his brash TV persona and penchant for bullying guests, Shimada conceded his TV career was at an end: "From tomorrow I will become just another regular person.
(9) The eminent historian Niall Ferguson, professor of history at Harvard University and a senior research fellow of Jesus College, Oxford, has jumped to Gove's defence, attacking the "pomposity" of the curriculum's detractors.
(10) After suggesting that the voting for Forbes had been fixed by "a small group of detractors" casting multiple votes, he continued: "Glenfiddich's choice of Michael Forbes, as Top Scot, will go down as one of the great jokes ever played on the Scottish people and is a terrible embarrassment to Scotland."
(11) He was protected by the media, his detractors complained, but protection was certainly not offered from the club.
(12) His detractors, many in his own party, say he will turn Britain’s main opposition party into a political pressure group at best , with no hope of regaining office.
(13) While there is good scientific evidence that meditating twice a day can reduce stress and lower blood pressure, the maharishi's detractors say that his claims that it can also cure cancer and prolong lifespans are unproven.
(14) 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.
(15) The company was employed in September 2015 by one of Trump’s Republican detractors to look into his dealings.
(16) The Pythons were silly and surreal, and any style of humour so quirkily individual that it spawns its own adjective will have its detractors.
(17) While Osborne claimed "access to higher education is a basic tenet of economic success in the global race", his detractors countered that the system would collapse under the weight of its own ambition.
(18) John Smith As the chief executive of BBC Worldwide, he is frequently accused of behaving too commercially by the BBC's detractors.
(19) Facing threats of boycotts and cancellations across a range of industries Jan Brewer, the governor of Arizona, vetoed a bill sponsored by fellow Republicans that detractors said would have facilitated discrimination against gays in the name of defending religious freedom.
(20) Where fans see a great artist drawn to extremes of ecstasy and anguish, detractors see an old-fashioned misogynist sporting a voguish arthouse cap.