as in criticism
the act of making a person or a thing seem little or unimportant
an unconscionable belittlement of his assistant in public
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Recent Examples of belittlement
Apolline may embrace the social media aspects of her career but George’s belittlement rankles her.
—
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2025
Peter Rainer, Christian Science Monitor, 14 Aug. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for belittlement
Noun
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Thousands of providers who were cut off from Medicaid billing can once again receive funds, at least for now, as the Minnesota Department of Human Services navigates a revalidation process drawing bipartisan criticism.—
Conor Wight,
CBS News,
13 June 2026
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Swift also reflected on making peace with criticism, fair and unfair, from both bots and real people.—
P. Claire Dodson,
Vogue,
12 June 2026
Noun
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For me, this marks an early moment in the denigration of women.—
Eana Kim,
ARTnews.com,
27 Apr. 2026
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Nowhere is there the vitriol or denigration found in MAGA gatherings.—
Chicago Tribune,
Chicago Tribune,
1 Apr. 2026
Noun
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These disparagements cut to the core of southern manhood.—
Rob Wolfe,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2026
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The contract contained a non-disparagement clause, and in law, the special thing about disparagement is that unlike defamation, the truth is not a defense against disparagement.—
Marlow Stern,
Variety,
28 Apr. 2026
Noun
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The incident triggered panic among students and parents and drew condemnation from city and state leaders who said federal officials had assured them immigration enforcement would not occur at schools.—
Racquel Bazos,
Baltimore Sun,
11 June 2026
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And was anyone surprised by the lack of immediate condemnation and outrage from Mayor Mamdani?—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
11 June 2026
Noun
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In June last year, Baldoni's $400 million lawsuit against Lively, Reynolds, and the couple's publicist Leslie Sloane, as well as Baldoni's defamation suit against the Times, was dismissed by Liman.—
Angeline Jane Bernabe,
ABC News,
15 June 2026
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Marie Theodat filed suit in Suffolk Superior Court in September 2025 against more than a dozen defendants, alleging claims of discrimination, defamation, invasion of privacy, and intentional infliction of emotional distress.—
Flint McColgan,
Boston Herald,
14 June 2026
Noun
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In 2014, Smith served a nine-game suspension for violating the NFL’s personal conduct and substance abuse policies.—
Nick Harris,
Fort Worth Star-Telegram,
14 June 2026
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He was suspended multiple times during his career for infractions including violating the league's substance abuse and personal conduct policy.—
Brandon Downs,
CBS News,
14 June 2026
Noun
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How the Knicks got here The Knicks have been a subject of ridicule for most of the past three decades, only to break through this spring with historic and surreal dominance.—
Esfandiar Baraheni,
New York Times,
3 June 2026
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Dozens of harrowing twists later, Daniel was turned into a vampire by Louis’ terrifyingly powerful, 500-year-old lover, Armand (Assad Zaman), and published Louis’ confessions to the ridicule of the human media and the outrage of the understandably press-shy immortal community.—
Judy Berman,
Time,
2 June 2026
Noun
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When asset growth exceeds earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) growth, stock returns tend to be negatively affected.—
Bill Stone,
Forbes.com,
13 June 2026
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Bank Indonesia highlighted that the depreciation of the rupiah was also driven by foreign portfolio investment outflows.—
Lim Hui Jie,
CNBC,
9 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Belittlement.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belittlement. Accessed 18 Jun. 2026.
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