1
as in insults
an act or expression showing scorn and usually intended to hurt another's feelings
new hires always have to deal with put-downs and practical jokes from the older employees
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in defamations
the act of making a person or a thing seem little or unimportant
your never-ending put-down of my musical talents is really starting to annoy me
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
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Recent Examples of put-downs
The petty put-downs were sharper on Palm Royale.
—
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 16 June 2026
When Marilyn Walker was a little girl, her grandmother introduced her to sarcasm through genteel put-downs that sounded sweet but weren’t.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 10 Mar. 2026
Watch a season of the Y2K reality juggernaut and the tone will vacillate wildly between cringe-worthy put-downs via Janice Dickinson, cringier photoshoots, feel-good runway lessons with Miss J, and body positivity monologues from Tyra Banks.
—Madeline Hirsch, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
Crockett, a representative from a deep-blue district that includes much of Dallas, has attained fame with snappy put-downs of Republicans, many of which have gone viral on social media.
—Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
Many of them are amusing enough to get chuckles and the odd big laugh but a little more wit amongst the throwaway put-downs would have been welcome.
—Richard Kuipers, Variety, 26 Jan. 2026
Angie Han, HollywoodReporter, 16 June 2026
When Marilyn Walker was a little girl, her grandmother introduced her to sarcasm through genteel put-downs that sounded sweet but weren’t.
—Angela Haupt, Time, 10 Mar. 2026
Watch a season of the Y2K reality juggernaut and the tone will vacillate wildly between cringe-worthy put-downs via Janice Dickinson, cringier photoshoots, feel-good runway lessons with Miss J, and body positivity monologues from Tyra Banks.
—Madeline Hirsch, InStyle, 17 Feb. 2026
Crockett, a representative from a deep-blue district that includes much of Dallas, has attained fame with snappy put-downs of Republicans, many of which have gone viral on social media.
—Jonathan Chait, The Atlantic, 5 Feb. 2026
Many of them are amusing enough to get chuckles and the odd big laugh but a little more wit amongst the throwaway put-downs would have been welcome.
—Richard Kuipers, Variety, 26 Jan. 2026
Recent Examples of Synonyms for put-downs
Noun
-
The adversaries made for a striking scene, exchanging insults in mutually unintelligible languages in the dead of night.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
16 June 2026
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The president lobbed insults at the Fed chair and the two clashed over the budget for a multibillion-dollar renovation project at the Fed's Washington headquarters.—
Rachel Barber,
USA Today,
15 June 2026
Noun
-
That, of course, was shown at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, where the Jabulani grabbed headlines for its erratic and unpredictable movement — so much so that there’s a Wikipedia page dedicated to its criticisms.—
Liam Tharme,
New York Times,
20 June 2026
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Former school board member Melissa Easley echoed many of those criticisms in a lengthy Facebook post Wednesday.—
Nora O'Neill,
Charlotte Observer,
19 June 2026
Noun
-
First seen at a night-club table of menacing lowlifes, Ida, whose mother tongue is Brooklynese, suddenly switches to a heavy British accent and dispenses a torrent of highly literary sarcasms.—
Richard Brody,
New Yorker,
4 Mar. 2026
Noun
-
The condemnations keep coming four days after security officers escorted five diabetes experts out of the American Diabetes Association meeting in New Orleans for handing out copies of an editorial criticizing federal cuts to biomedical research.—
Elizabeth Cooney,
STAT,
9 June 2026
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The change followed condemnations by Mormon lawmakers that the Pentagon's non-inclusion of the church's as a Christian faith was a mistake that should be corrected.—
Luis Martinez,
ABC News,
8 June 2026
Noun
-
These disparagements cut to the core of southern manhood.—
Rob Wolfe,
The Atlantic,
5 June 2026
Noun
-
That safeguard was meant to guard against potential abuses of power, said Meza, the former commission chair.—
Los Angeles City Hall,
Los Angeles Times,
20 June 2026
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Only if a final agreement follows on this provisional one will Iran be provided with $300 billion and the lifting of all sanctions, including those linked to terrorism, its ballistic-missile program, and human-rights abuses.—
Thomas Wright,
The Atlantic,
19 June 2026
Cite this Entry
“Put-downs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/put-downs. Accessed 21 Jun. 2026.
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