- act or instance of condescending
- a patronizing manner or behavior
Origin of condescension
Ecclesiastical Late Latin condescensio from past participle of condescendere
noun
The definition of condescension refers to an attitude of superiority or looking down on others.
An attitude that you are generally better and smarter than everyone else is an example of condescension.
YourDictionary definition and usage example. Copyright © 2018 by LoveToKnow Corp
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"condescension." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension>.
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condescension. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension
condescension
Webster's New World College Dictionary, Fifth Edition Copyright © 2014 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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"condescension." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension>.
APA Style
condescension. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension
condescension
noun
- The act of condescending or an instance of it.
- Patronizingly superior behavior or attitude.
Origin of condescension
Late Latin condēscēnsiō condēscēnsiōn- from condēscēnsus past participle of condēscendere to condescend ; see condescend .THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
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MLA Style
"condescension." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension>.
APA Style
condescension. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension
Noun
(usually uncountable, plural condescensions)
- The act of condescending; voluntary descent from one's rank or dignity in intercourse with an inferior; courtesy toward inferiors. syn.
- Conscious condescension breeds panderers and enemies, not friends.
English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.
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Cite this page
MLA Style
"condescension." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 05 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension>.
APA Style
condescension. (n.d.). Retrieved December 05th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/condescension
Sentence Examples
- Natasha did not like the visitor's tone of condescension to childish things.
- Muraviev, who already carried his nomination in his pocket, resented this condescension, and relegated Isvolsky to Belgrade and to Munich, where he had the rank of a minister plenipotentiary.
- There was a shade of condescension and patronage in his treatment of Berg and Vera.
- He wrote also a number of essays, such as "My Garden Acquaintance," "A Good Word for Winter," "On a Certain Condescension in Foreigners," which were incursions into the field of nature and society.
- It was a time when the pen was more powerful than the sword, when a secretary of state would treat with condescension a Witty pamphleteer, and when such a pamphleteer might hope, not in vain, to become a secretary of state.
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Words near condescension in the dictionary
- condescension
- condescensions
- condescent
- condescents