How to Use patronizing in a Sentence

patronizing

adjective
  • Attempts have been so grand as to come off as wildly patronizing.
    — Charlie Warzel, The Atlantic, 14 May 2026
  • And this kind of thinking is just so narrow-minded and patronizing.
    — Shadi Hamid, Washington Post, 25 July 2024
  • Again, that’s a ridiculous and patronizing thing to say to Rick Grimes.
    — Leah Marilla Thomas, Vulture, 25 Feb. 2024
  • This can feel patronizing, and may incite actual upset from you.
    — Tarot Astrologers, Chicago Tribune, 22 Apr. 2023
  • Asking us to take a break from that may not be possible and often feels dismissive, tone-deaf or patronizing.
    — Rachael McCrary, Forbes, 7 Mar. 2023
  • Fear-mongering, which comes off equal parts paranoid and patronizing, is the surest way to make people stop listening.
    — Krista Kafer, Denver Post, 20 Oct. 2025
  • Because of that context, Manion said the word can come off as patronizing and demeaning.
    — Ashley Soebroto, BostonGlobe.com, 6 Apr. 2023
  • The same is true of the inconsistent — and patronizing — use of translation.
    — Samuel Ashworth, Washington Post, 24 July 2024
  • As a rule, European green evangelism comes off as very patronizing.
    — Ariel Cohen, Forbes, 23 Jan. 2023
  • Those sentiments aren't constructive and can be rather patronizing.
    — Alyce Collins, MSNBC Newsweek, 21 Sep. 2025
  • But for many teens and 20-somethings, a smiley face popping up in a text or email is seen as patronizing or passive-aggressive.
    — Aiyana Ishmael, WSJ, 9 Aug. 2021
  • Bush, to his limited credit, at least recognized how off-putting such patronizing attitudes could be.
    — Casey Michel, The New Republic, 16 Dec. 2022
  • Used in a patronizing context toward a rule follower, this trend is usually used to mock rather than compliment.
    — Sarah Scott, Parents, 4 Dec. 2025
  • Women are expected to parade their trauma to be heard and then are sometimes given the patronizing title of victim.
    — Stephanie McNeal, Glamour, 3 Oct. 2024
  • Jay is self-effacing about his success and only mildly patronizing to Tim, who’s now a child therapist.
    — David Rooney, HollywoodReporter, 28 Aug. 2025
  • By the end of the file, the vaguely patronizing top-line recommendation against simple summation begins to make more sense.
    — The New Yorker, 3 June 2022
  • All right, this is the patronizing version of complimenting the elderly.
    — Judith Martin, Mercury News, 6 July 2026
  • The series’s interior world is so thinly rendered and its patronizing tone so prevailing that the impact is more lecture than thriller.
    — Vulture, 4 Feb. 2022
  • Don’t sound too cheesy or patronizing, be honest, and maintain professionalism.
    — Sho Dewan, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024
  • Members say the approach backfired, coming across as patronizing and failing to recognize the demands on senior women’s time.
    — Katherine Dunn, Fortune, 16 Mar. 2023
  • To act like de Witte’s performance was some kind of wild upset seems a little disingenuous, and a bit patronizing to audiences overall.
    — Kat Bein, Billboard, 27 Mar. 2023
  • The patronizing filmmaking advice Julie receives from the more confident people around her is often painfully apt.
    — Lidija Haas, The New Republic, 12 Nov. 2021
  • Perhaps that’s because the cast and crew of the movie-inside-the-movie are all reprehensible, grotesque and spectacularly patronizing.
    — Michael Cavna, Washington Post, 17 May 2023
  • Now mom’s and Giulia’s reassurances sound patronizing and hollow, and more disturbingly, suggest an effort to keep Chiara in the dark.
    — Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 26 May 2022
  • At dinner, Chloe rolls up looking like Alice Cullen and everyone is very patronizing to her about being scantily clad in a recent photo shoot.
    — Leah Marilla Thomas, refinery29.com, 10 May 2021
  • Bush could have stuck to platitudes about the promotion of peace, democracy, and self-determination and omitted the patronizing warning about civil conflict.
    — Alexander Vindman, Foreign Affairs, 8 Aug. 2022
  • The clearest firebrand of the group is Suzanne (Mia Barron), whose patronizing politeness will eventually give way to rage once her views are challenged.
    — Chris Willman, Variety, 24 Sep. 2025
  • One study found that female economists (a field related to finance) were asked more questions than their male counterparts when presenting their work, and the questions were more likely to be patronizing or hostile.
    — Kim Elsesser, Forbes, 16 Sep. 2024
  • More fundamentally, all this is an enormously patronizing way to think and speak about citizens in an ostensibly self-governing society.
    — Nate Hochman, National Review, 7 Feb. 2022
  • John’s patronizing, congratulatory tone with regard to Weisz’s character’s dalliance with Vlad doesn’t help.
    — Meg Walters, Glamour, 9 Mar. 2026

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'patronizing.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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