How to use condescend in a sentence

11 example sentences · verb

Condescend means to come down or go down; to descend. Example: “The boss condescended not to sack him after much persuasion from his coworkers.”

Examples of condescend by meaning

verbTo come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.

The boss condescended not to sack him after much persuasion from his coworkers.

verbTo treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.

At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy ; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.1907 August, Robert W[illiam] Chambers, “Silverside”, in The Younger Set, New York, N.Y.: D. Appleton & Company, →OCLC, page 300

verbTo treat (someone) as though inferior; to talk down to (someone); to patronize.

I didn't mean to condescend you, Mr.2007, Damian Westfall, Bennett’s Cow-Eyed Girl […], Morrisville, N.C.: Lulu.com, →ISBN, page 54
I'm not trying to condescend you, Ben.2010, Jaron Lee Knuth, chapter 12, in Demigod, [S.l.]: Jaron Lee Knuth, →ISBN

verbOften preceded by the dummy pronoun it: to agree to (something); to consent.

It was condescended by the warring parties that they should lay down their arms and seek peace.

More sentences with condescend

It was the Duke’s whim to condescend further in the direction of Noaks than in any other.1911 October 26, Max Beerbohm, Zuleika Dobson, or, An Oxford Love Story, 1st American edition, New York, N.Y.: John Lane Company…. From the entry plexus
It’s so much easier to condescend to him, to make up stories about his Puritanism, his felinophobia, his general scariness.2002 April 5, Paul Greenberg, “John Ashcroft: The scariest man in government”, in The Item, volume 107, number 169, Sumter, S.C., page 8A. From the entry felinophobia
At last young fellow in a white jacket condescended to answer my bell—and asked me to wait some more in the porch.1955, Joyce Cary, Not Honour More, New Directions Publishing, →ISBN, page 98. From the entry ye olde
When a philosopher condescends to regard commonplace man, he assumes much the attitude that a dandy might if brought, perforce, into contact with some one suspected of being pedicular.1923, Heinrich E. Buchholz, chapter 14, in Of What Use Are Common People? A Study in Democracy, Baltimore: Warwick & York, pages 196–197. From the entry pedicular
"If Lord John Roxton would condescend----" "My dear George, don't be so peppery," said his wife, with her hand on the black mane that drooped over the microscope.1913, Arthur Conan Doyle, “(please specify the page)”, in The Poison Belt […], London; New York, N.Y.: Hodder and Stoughton, →OCLC. From the entry peppery
For all who cross his palm with silver he condescends to lift the drapery that hides the reclining figure, and the larger the coin the longer the look.1910 October 12, “Pay to See Barney Statue: Hindu Butler Reaping a Harvest from Washington's Curious Folk”, in New York Times, retrieved…. From the entry cross someone's palm

Meaning of condescend

verb To come down or go down; to descend.
verb To come down from a superior position and do something; to deign; (with a negative connotation) to stoop.
verb To treat someone as though inferior; to talk down to someone; to patronize.

Full definition of condescend

Questions about condescend in a sentence

How do you use condescend in a sentence?: Condescend is used as a verb. For example: “The boss condescended not to sack him after much persuasion from his coworkers.”
What is a short sentence with condescend?: “I didn't mean to condescend you, Mr.”
What does condescend mean?: Condescend means to come down or go down; to descend.

Adapted from Wiktionary: condescend (page history and authors) and the entries each sentence comes from. Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws chose the sentences, left out offensive ones and quotations older than 1900, and marked the word in each. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Cite this page: “How to use condescend in a sentence.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/sentences/condescend. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.