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• v  behave in a patronizing and condescending manner
• v  do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
• v  debase oneself morally, act in an undignified, unworthy, or dishonorable way
• v  treat condescendingly
• s  (used of behavior or attitude) characteristic of those who treat others with condescension

• The backlash against President Obama is the latest iteration of a populist tendency against money being siphoned off by condescending elites and going to those who do not work.
• After all, arent novels that fall under that noxiously condescending rubric contrived to reassure readers by offering them secondhand problem-solving advice?.
• I find the snarkiness condescending, a reflection of the general snobbiness in the humanitarian community about celebrities trying to do good work.

• condescend
• deign
• descend
• stoop
• lower oneself
• patronize
• patronise
• arch
• patronizing
• patronising

News & Articles

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• Austerity works (if it’s really implemented)
  By John Stossel Europe’s struggles prove that “austerity” fails. So say the Big Spenders. With a condescending sigh, they explain that Europe made deep cuts in government spending ...
  June 9, 2013 - The Mckeesport Daily News
• Server's respect perceived as insult
  DEAR MISS MANNERS: I have found myself in a curious position. As a server in a prominent restaurant, I was accosted by two women who took offense to me referring to them as "young ladies." The ladies in question were possibly mid-50s to mid-60s, and one became irate, informing me that to refer to her as "young lady" was an insult and condescending.
  June 9, 2013 - Worcester Telegram & Gazette
• Paul Prather: Why people attend an evangelical church
  Among the frequent misperceptions about Christians in general, but about evangelicals especially, is that we're rather simple, mindless creatures who accept unquestioningly the existence of God and every tenet our churches teach. I've always found this caricature lazy at best, condescending at worst.
  June 7, 2013 - Lexington Herald-Leader

Quotes

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• Tom Cruise in guardian.co.uk
  Throughout the years, unpretentious and never condescending, he shared with me what he loved about family, storytelling, food, flying and a great bottle of vino,Cruise said. "He was a Renaissance man and a great friend. I will miss him...
• Barack Obama in Akron Beacon Journal
  During the course of the last few days, you know, she's said I'm elitist, out of touch, condescending,Obama said.
• John Waters in Baltimore Sun
  To me, it's used up,Waters said of the Hon. "It's condescending now. The people that celebrate it are not from it. I feel that in some weird way they're looking slightly down on it. I only celebrate something I can look up to."