as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
there's no need for belittling comments about your brother's trumpet playing
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in dismissing
to express scornfully one's low opinion of
belittled the action star's acting ability
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of belittling
Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2023
The boundaries revolve around disrespectful or belittling speech.
—Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 28 Sep. 2020
Nicole Briese, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Stephanie blames everything that happened subsequently on Alexia belittling her, but Alexia only belittled her because Stephanie had made fun of her.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for belittling
Adjective
Yet, since sometime before July 23, 2022, an anonymous user has been steadily updating IMDb’s trivia section on Corsage with hostile and belittling comments presented under the guise of background information.
—Miles Klee, Rolling Stone, 14 Jan. 2023
The boundaries revolve around disrespectful or belittling speech.
—Abigail Van Buren, oregonlive, 28 Sep. 2020
Verb
Prior to her tragic death, Toussaint had reclaimed her power, announcing her intent to divorce her belittling husband and address her people with honesty.
—Nicole Briese, People.com, 22 Aug. 2025
Stephanie blames everything that happened subsequently on Alexia belittling her, but Alexia only belittled her because Stephanie had made fun of her.
—Brian Moylan, Vulture, 7 Aug. 2025
See All Example Sentences for belittling
Recent Examples of Synonyms for belittling
Verb
-
The panel, which Kennedy reshaped earlier this year by dismissing its members and appointing some vaccine skeptics, will convene Thursday and Friday in Atlanta.—
Adeola Adeosun
Gabe Whisnant,
MSNBC Newsweek,
15 Sep. 2025
-
An Arizona inmate tricked court officials into releasing him more than two decades early by filing fake orders allegedly dismissing his charges.—
Suzanne Nuyen,
NPR,
10 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Using those who serve in uniform as political props is insulting.—
Arkansas Online,
Arkansas Online,
13 Sep. 2025
-
The whole thing feels redundant and borderline insulting.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 Sep. 2025
Verb
-
Trefis High Quality Portfolio encompasses a much broader analysis aimed at minimizing stock-specific risks while offering potential for appreciation.—
Trefis Team,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
-
The production also made substantial strides in reducing waste, including minimizing single-use plastics and recycling 180 metric tons of steel from its sets.—
THR Staff,
HollywoodReporter,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
For decades, Indigenous leaders and advocates across the state and country have been trying to convince school communities that the use of such mascots and logos are inappropriate, demeaning and harmful.—
Frank Vaisvilas,
jsonline.com,
29 Aug. 2025
-
One detainee who submitted an account to the court that was referenced by Gregorio described sleeping in foul-smelling facilities and facing demeaning treatment by ICE agents.—
Molly Crane-Newman,
New York Daily News,
12 Aug. 2025
Verb
-
Losing the race for Ai dominance by losing the race for nuclear power supremacy while diminishing the wellbeing (and economic productivity in turn) of your citizenry is poor national security strategy.—
Suwanna Gauntlett Upjohn,
Forbes.com,
19 Sep. 2025
-
Cable networks and traditional media companies have faced financial pressures as viewers have migrated from the traditional pay TV bundle to streaming platforms, diminishing ad spending within the market.—
Sarah Whitten,
CNBC,
18 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
And there would be lots of soldiers around, either Army or National Guard, and the people who were civilians would be young people, very disparaging about the military.—
Steve Baltin,
Forbes.com,
24 Aug. 2025
-
The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
Verb
-
Trump’s former national security adviser then resumed criticizing his foreign policy on Ukraine.—
David Mark,
The Washington Examiner,
19 Sep. 2025
-
After a particularly bad at-bat in the seventh inning of Thursday's game, manager John Schneider didn't shy away from criticizing the franchise player and sounding the alarm on the offense as a whole.—
Peter Chawaga,
MSNBC Newsweek,
19 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Some users bragged about allegedly assaulting or blackmailing women and encouraged others to insult the women shown in photos with degrading language.—
CNN Staff 20 hr ago,
CNN Money,
24 Aug. 2025
-
In a degrading battery, the researchers observed two key signs of trouble.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
5 Aug. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Belittling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/belittling. Accessed 22 Sep. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share