belittle
/bi'litl/
Học thuậtThân thiện
Definition
- Verb:
- To make someone or something seem less impressive or important: To speak about or treat a person, their achievements, or a thing in a way that makes them appear less valuable or significant.
- To express a negative or dismissive opinion of: To criticize or disparage someone or something, often unfairly or without full consideration.
Examples of Usage
- Verb:
- He tends to belittle the contributions of his team members. (He often makes his team members' contributions seem unimportant.)
- It is unprofessional to belittle a colleague in a meeting. (It is unprofessional to speak dismissively about a colleague in a meeting.)
- She felt belittled by his constant criticism. (She felt her worth was diminished by his constant criticism.)
Advanced Usage
"to belittle oneself": To undervalue or speak poorly of one's own abilities or achievements.
- You have great skills; don't belittle yourself. (You have great skills; do not make them seem less than they are.)
"to belittle the importance of": To treat something as trivial or not serious.
- We should not belittle the importance of mental health. (We should not treat mental health as unimportant.)
Variants and Related Words
Belittlement (n): The action of belittling someone or something.
- His constant belittlement of her work was demoralizing. (His continuous act of making her work seem unimportant lowered her morale.)
Belittling (adj): Describing language or behavior that makes someone or something seem unimportant.
- She made a belittling remark about his idea. (She made a comment that diminished the value of his idea.)
Synonyms
- Disparage: To regard or represent as being of little worth.
- Diminish: To make or cause to seem less important or valuable.
- Demean: To cause a severe loss in the dignity of and respect for someone or something.
- Minimize: To represent or estimate at less than the true value or importance.
Antonyms
- Praise: To express warm approval or admiration of.
- Compliment: A polite expression of praise or admiration.
- Magnify: To exaggerate the importance of; to extol.
- Glorify: To describe or represent as admirable, especially unjustifiably.
Related Phrases
Play down: To minimize the importance of; to make something seem less serious. (This is a synonym in the context of causing something to seem less serious.)
- The company tried to play down the significance of the data breach. (The company tried to make the data breach seem less serious.)
Talk down to: To speak to someone in a condescending or patronizing manner, which can be a form of belittling.
- He always talks down to the interns, which belittles their potential. (He always speaks to the interns as if they are less intelligent, which diminishes their perceived potential.)
Verb
- lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of
- don't belittle your colleagues
- express a negative opinion of
- She disparaged her student's efforts
- cause to seem less serious; play down
- Don't belittle his influence