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

• insulting
• slighting
• degrading
• derogatory
• malicious
• disparaging
• abusive
• pejorative
• uncomplimentary

Examples of demeaning in a Sentence

demanded an apology for his demeaning comments

Recent Examples on the Web

Trump tried to claim that media reports about his administration’s early conclusions were somehow demeaning attacks on the performance of our military. —Chris Brennan, USA Today, 27 June 2025

Loss of community trust Trans and nonbinary people have often been studied under opportunistic and demeaning circumstances. —Paz Galupo, The Conversation, 2 June 2025

But the racial order of the day also made these jobs, which were physically challenging to begin with, especially demeaning, humiliating, and fraught with danger. —Matthew Wills, JSTOR Daily, 21 June 2025

Being high and coerced into this demeaning lifestyle. —Patrick Ryan, USA Today, 11 June 2025

Word History

Etymology

from present participle of demean entry 1

First Known Use

1770, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for demeaning

• careening
• convening
• housecleaning
• machining
• unmeaning
• cleaning
• gleaning
• greening
• keening
• leaning
• meaning
• peening