condescension
condescension Lexical Profile
condescension Game Scores & Validity
• noun
An attitude or manner of patronizing superiority toward others perceived as less intelligent, important, or capable.
"The manager explained the basic procedures with a tone of unmistakable condescension that alienated the new employees."
Voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in relations with an inferior; an act of graciousness or affability toward someone of lower status.
"In the nineteenth-century novel, the duchess's brief visit to the village school was praised by the locals as a remarkable act of condescension."
Word Nuance & Usage
In older literature (such as Jane Austen's novels), 'condescension' often carried a positive or neutral meaning of a social superior graciously stooping to interact with an inferior; in modern usage, however, it is almost exclusively negative, denoting patronizing arrogance.
• Rhymes for condescension
• Nearby Words
Word Origin & Etymology
Borrowed from Late Latin condescensionem, from the verb condescendere ('to stoop or let oneself down'), formed from com- ('together') and descendere ('to go down').