condescension
Syllables: con·de·scen·sion/kɒndiˈsɛnʃən/US/kɑndiˈsɛnʃən/
condescension noun: the act of condescending; a manner of behaving in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies superiority to another; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors.
Noun
condescension (usually uncountable, plural condescensions)
- The act of condescending; a manner of behaving in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies superiority to another; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors.
- Conscious condescension breeds panderers and enemies, not friends.
- Mrs. Howard's fête at Marble Hill more than realised all expectations. The very spring put itself forward to please her; or, rather borrowed a day from summer. The king and queen were in the last extremities of royal condescension. It was enough to make domestic felicity the fashion from one end of...1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 27–28
- Synonyms:
- condescendence
- A patronizing attitude or behavior.
- He's a snob of the first water and views the lower orders with infinite condescension.1935, George Cronyn, Fortune and Men's Eyes
- Tommy rarely entered the top social stratum where Tyckman moved by right of wealth and ancestry, but he had found the man pleasant and without condescension.1937, Percy Marks, And Points Beyond
- Synonyms:
- patronage
- Courtesy, affability of a superior towards an inferior.
condescension meaning in Tamil and Malayalam
condescension in Tamil
- தயவு, கடைக்கண்பார்வை, மேட்டிமை, இறுமாப்பு
condescension in Malayalam
- ഗൗരവത്യാഗം, ഗൗരവം വെടിയൽ
Examples of condescension in a sentence
- The king and queen were in the last extremities of royal condescension.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume II, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, pages 27–28:
- There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul.1886 January 5, Robert Louis Stevenson, “Henry Jekyll’s Full Statement of the Case”, in Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde, London...
- "Unfortunate situation," she replied, making an effort to moderate her superciliousness to mere condescension."1911, Robert Ames Bennet, Out of the Primitive:
- "Pardon me, my dear sir," repeated the Major, blandly, smoothly, and with an air of – well, not condescension, but gracious familiarity.1912, Joseph Crosby Lincoln, The Depot Master:
Synonyms of condescension
Forms of condescension
| plural | condescensions |
|---|
Origin of condescension
From Latin condēscēnsiō.
Words formed from condescension
Words that rhyme with condescension
- dimension
- intention
- tension
- pension
- indention
- intervention
- recension
- descension
- gentian
- mention
- resuspension
- advention
1 more rhymesFewer rhymes
Questions about condescension
- What does condescension mean?
- Condescension means the act of condescending; a manner of behaving in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies superiority to another; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors.
- What is condescension in Tamil?
- Condescension in Tamil is தயவு, கடைக்கண்பார்வை, மேட்டிமை. See Condescension meaning in Tamil.
- How do you use condescension in a sentence?
- The king and queen were in the last extremities of royal condescension.
- What part of speech is condescension?
- Condescension is a noun.
- How do you pronounce condescension?
- Condescension is pronounced /kɑndiˈsɛnʃən/ (US).
- What is the plural of condescension?
- The plural of condescension is condescensions.
Words near condescension in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: condescension (page history and authors); condescension (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); condescension (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-condescension.wav.
Cite this entry: “condescension.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/condescension. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.