demean

1 of 2

verb (1)

de·mean di-ˈmēn

demeaned; demeaning

Synonyms of demean next

transitive verb

: to lower in character, status, or reputation

careful not to demean his opponent

demeaning the seriousness of the problem

demean

2 of 2

verb (2)

demeaned; demeaning

transitive verb

: to conduct or behave (oneself) usually in a proper manner

… he might have been observed to demean himself as a person with nothing to do …—

Henry James †1916

Did you know?

There are two words spelled demean in English. The more familiar demean—"to lower in character, status, or reputation"—comes straight from mean, the adjective that means "spiteful." The other demean comes from the Anglo-French verb demener ("to conduct"), which in turn comes from Latin minare, meaning "to drive." This verb has been with us since the 14th century and is generally used in contexts (especially formal ones) specifying a type of behavior: "he demeaned himself in a most unfriendly manner"; "she demeaned herself as befitting her station in life"; "they knew not how to demean themselves in the king's presence." As you may have already guessed, the noun demeanor, meaning "behavior," comes from this demean.

Examples of demean in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

After the problems came to a head last month, he was placed on leave and has been ridiculed and demeaned by local officials for his conduct, Burke said. —

Nick Stoico, BostonGlobe.com, 11 Sep. 2023 Casually demeaning one’s workforce is, mercifully, going out of fashion. —

Jacobina Martin, Washington Post, 24 Aug. 2023 The advisory committee on judicial conduct accused Wilcox of violating the court’s standards of conduct, giving off the appearance of impropriety and conducting extrajudicial activities that demeaned the office. —

Daniel Wu, Washington Post, 6 July 2023 With the promise of upward mobility spectacularly broken, all that’s left is the work itself, which is often egregiously demeaning and exploitative. —

Matthew Gavin Frank, Harper's Magazine, 1 May 2023 Emotionally Abusive When you're constantly belittled or demeaned by a partner or friend in an effort to undermine your self-esteem, that's an emotionally abusive relationship. —

Sara Novak, Discover Magazine, 27 June 2023 The companies will also not accept advertising money or book experiences that violate certain humane standards, such as physical interactions with captive wild or endangered species (with a few exceptions) or performances that demean the animals. —

Andrea Sachs, Washington Post, 18 Aug. 2022 In fact, the seating arrangement in the Great Hall of the People with Xi at the head of the table was demeaning. —

Andrew Mark Miller, Fox News, 20 June 2023 Its goal was to fight back by demeaning Korean men in ways that mirrored the rhetoric on sites like Ilbe. —

Min Joo Lee, Fortune, 15 May 2023 See More

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

Word History

Etymology

Verb (1)

de- + mean entry 2, probably after debase

Verb (2)

Middle English demenen, demeynen "to rule, control, decide, arrange, keep within bounds, moderate, behave (in a certain way), conduct (oneself)," borrowed from Anglo-French demein-, tonic stem of demener "to lead, guide, carry on, subject to, treat, agitate," (intransitive) "to strive, thrash about," (reflexive) "to behave" (also continental Old & Middle French), from de- de- + mener "to lead, bring," going back to Latin mināre "to push, impel (an animal forward)," active form of the deponent verb minārī "to threaten" — more at minatory

Note: The verb mināre "to impel, drive (an animal)" is marginally attested in later classical Latin but more fully in Late Latin; in the Vulgate the object can also be human or inanimate. In early medieval Latin the notion "drive" shifted to "lead," a sense continued by Romance descendants of mināre (as French mener, Upper Engadine Romansh mner, Italian menare, Occitan & Catalan menar). The Old French prefixed derivative demener displays a wide array of meanings, which in part were passed through Anglo-French to Middle English demenen. The verbs in the modern languages—French démener, English demean—retain few of these meanings.