(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).
Patronize
Definition:
(v. t.) To act as patron toward; to support; to countenance; to favor; to aid.
(v. t.) To trade with customarily; to frequent as a customer.
(v. t.) To assume the air of a patron, or of a superior and protector, toward; -- used in an unfavorable sense; as, to patronize one's equals.
Example Sentences:
(1) In one of the best of the recent ones ( Shakespeare Unbound , 2007) René Weis has a cool and illuminatingly open-minded analysis of whether the earlier sonnets (including 20) are directed at the young and glamorous Earl of Southampton, the poet’s patron and possible love object.
(2) The new slogan “for the thirsty” seems to lionise those who try different things: great for enticing new patrons but do you really want your loyal consumer base branching out beyond their usual pint?
(3) He has set up a "trade and growth" board for Scotland and will soon lead Scotland's "largest ever trade delegation to Brazil", a visit which will take place on St Andrew's Day, the patron saints day beloved by the nationalists.
(4) Immediately after the verdicts two Surrey-based charities, Shooting Star Chase and the Woking & Sam Beare Hospices, said that Clifford would no longer be their patron.
(5) Facebook Twitter Pinterest Charlie Webster explains her decision to quit as patron of Sheffield United She said: “At no point have Sheffield United acknowledged the extremity of his crime.
(6) In view of this, Hufeland has become a kind of 'patron saint' to modern chronobiologists.
(7) The bill should authorize stiff fines for unruly dog behavior – to include noise violations from sustained barking and lunging – and misdemeanor criminal penalties for menacing waitstaff and patrons.
(8) I went to the club twice and moved around, taking my photos without interacting much with any of the patrons,” McMullan recalled.
(9) He was the patron of an alternative medicine charity run by Dr Patrick Pietroni, who had a GP practice in the basement of Marylebone Church.
(10) If there is a patron saint of shorts in this country, then it is undoubtedly the Chungmeister, with her beloved denim hotpants and collection of lacy and smart city shorts.
(11) A former showgirl from the gravel pits of Wraysbury in Berkshire, Keeler was just 19 and was staying on the estate with her friend, patron and (some said) pimp, the society osteopath Stephen Ward.
(12) In the African American neighborhood south of the Midway, Gates gutted a string of condemned buildings and then turned them into sculpture, covertly turning his collectors into patrons of urban renewal .
(13) Litvinenko also received a regular stipend from the oligarch Boris Berezovsky , his friend and patron, who had arranged his escape from Russia in October 2000.
(14) Kabila's father, Laurent Kabila, had seized power with Rwandan help in 1997 only to then go to war with his former patrons and die by an assassin's bullet a little over three years later.
(15) They are thus funded or closed from season to season depending on the generosity of surrounding mines, the success of local art centres, and the sympathy of wealthy patrons.
(16) But we will support a secure and united Iraq as a partner, and never as a patron.
(17) He wants to style himself as patron of the most ambitious urban overhaul since Baron Haussmann dramatically changed the face of Paris in the mid-19th century when he carved out wide boulevards and the Champs Elysée.
(18) A spokesman for Prince Charles said: “The red squirrel is a most cherished and iconic national species, and, as patron of the Red Squirrel Survival Trust, the Prince of Wales keenly supports all efforts to conserve and promote their diminishing numbers.
(19) She gives the example of the Digismart scheme , of which she is a patron, which uses digital tools to mentor struggling school children, and has been introduced at 500 schools.
(20) Unlike the multi-racial community living and working in Woodstock , Cape Town’s oldest suburb, the vast majority of the Old Biscuit Mill’s patrons are white, while many of those serving in the food market and other businesses are black, as are the car guards and beggars outside.