as in insulting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
demanded an apology for his demeaning comments
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
1
as in degrading
to lower in character, dignity, or quality
it demeans the political process to demand that candidates make promises that everyone knows are unrealistic
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in humiliating
to reduce to a lower standing in one's own eyes or in others' eyes
his statement was not meant to demean the group's hard work
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
as in behaving
to manage the actions of (oneself) in a particular way
I shall endeavor to demean myself with utmost respect when our pastor comes to visit
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 demeaning
Chris Brennan, USA Today, 27 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
Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Y’all the only era that feel like demeaning the dead and saying that sh*t is cool, my ni**a.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for demeaning
Adjective
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
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
Verb
Marra’s wife says their family has received hateful messages and read demeaning online posts about them since Hegseth posted about Marra on X a few weeks ago.
—Maura Fox, San Diego Union-Tribune, 22 Sep. 2025
Y’all the only era that feel like demeaning the dead and saying that sh*t is cool, my ni**a.
—Demicia Inman, VIBE.com, 3 Sep. 2019
See All Example Sentences for demeaning
Recent Examples of Synonyms for demeaning
Adjective
-
To educate all of them in similar ways is insulting, and silly.—
Josh Hammer,
MSNBC Newsweek,
23 Sep. 2025
-
Perkins said the drink bore the insulting message.—
Victoria Moorwood,
Cincinnati Enquirer,
22 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Charles Rolsky, executive director and senior research scientist at the Shaw Institute, a nonprofit focusing on the links between environmental and human health, says that many studies, including his own, suggest PVA can pass through wastewater treatment without completely degrading.—
Matt Fuchs,
Time,
29 Sep. 2025
-
The mission emphasized that detaining adolescents under such conditions amounts to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.—
Antonio María Delgado,
Miami Herald,
23 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
Capítulo 0 is no DTmF, but that characterization shouldn’t be seen as derogatory.—
Juan J. Arroyo,
Rolling Stone,
26 Sep. 2025
-
This is a derogatory term for robots and AI technology.—
Anna Kleiber,
jsonline.com,
24 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have strong antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
27 Sep. 2025
-
Servers running on motherboards sold by Supermicro contain high-severity vulnerabilities that can allow hackers to remotely install malicious firmware that runs even before the operating system, making infections impossible to detect or remove without unusual protections in place.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
24 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
Adjective
-
The man also had a history of being abusive to partners, the Morning Herald reported.—
Gabrielle Rockson,
PEOPLE,
29 Sep. 2025
-
The strong aroma of abusive conduct in the Comey case might incline the judge, Michael Nachmanoff, to adopt a more skeptical approach to the charges.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
26 Sep. 2025
Adjective
-
The intensity of Irish expressions of solidarity in 2024 caused one pro-Israel commentator, Ben Cohen, to coin the term Paddystinian as a derisive epithet to counter the narrative, conflating the pejorative stereotype of the drunken Paddy with Palestine.—
Philip Metres
August 27,
Literary Hub,
27 Aug. 2025
-
In fact, locals use a different (and pejorative) term for the other versions: arroz con cosas, or rice with things.—
Sofia Perez,
Forbes.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
Neither party admitted to liability and each agreed to refrain from making disparaging, negative or uncomplimentary statements about the other, the document said.—
Lorraine Mirabella,
Baltimore Sun,
29 July 2022
-
Though the pollen gunk will pass, he's concerned by a contingent of Twitter trolls who've shared uncomplimentary reviews of his recent North American tour.—
Jordan Runtagh,
PEOPLE.com,
21 Jan. 2022
Cite this Entry
“Demeaning.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/demeaning. Accessed 3 Oct. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share