demeaning

adjective

de·​mean·​ing di-ˈmē-niŋ 

: damaging or lowering the character, status, or reputation of someone or something

The work was dirty and demeaning, though not quite as somber as it sounds.

—Gillian Beer

He changed one song title … to slip around radio's reluctance to play songs with demeaning words in them …

—Neil Strauss

[Sylvia Plath] is most helpfully linked, not to the demeaning disputes of her milieu, but to such powerful predecessors as Theodore Roethke, T. S. Eliot, Dylan Thomas, and above all Emily Dickinson.

—Joyce Carol Oates

demeaningly adverb

When Lorna … takes control of the inmates' pharmacy, she decides that no one needs medication. It's her belief that those who are demeaningly labeled "crazy" are given medication in order to stifle their uniqueness …

—Sophie-Marie Prime

Synonyms

• belittling
• contemptuous
• decrying
• degrading
• denigrative
• denigratory
• deprecatory
• depreciative
• depreciatory
• derisory
• derogative
• derogatory
• detractive
• disdainful
• disparaging
• pejorative
• scornful
• slighting
• uncomplimentary

Examples of demeaning in a Sentence

demanded an apology for his demeaning comments

Recent Examples on the Web

With no work, Kahanamoku went home to Hawaii, where he was given a series of almost demeaning jobs in Honolulu before finally becoming the city’s police chief. —Les Carpenter, Washington Post, 18 July 2024

Her eyes aren’t without empathy, but there’s something else there too: pity and frustration and frustration’s more demeaning cousin, annoyance. —Edan Lepucki, The Atlantic, 12 July 2024

Videos show the demeaning treatment of captives and the presence of a senior Rapid Support Forces commander recently singled out by U.S. sanctions for his role in atrocities against civilians. —Lauren Leatherby, New York Times, 19 June 2024

How Sculptor Meta Warrick Challenged White Supremacy A 1907 exhibition on the founding of Jamestown featured the work of an artist determined to counter demeaning stereotypes. —JSTOR Daily, 24 June 2024

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of demean entry 1

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above