1,400 new words in our dictionary! — Parasocial, glow-up, promposal & more
1,400 new words in our dictionary! — More

put-downs

noun

plural of put-down
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

Relevance

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 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 put-downs Trump, of course, is famous for put-downs whose cruelty is part of their appeal. — Adam Serwer, The Atlantic, 28 July 2026 The series combines potty-mouthed put-downs with more sentimental story lines. — Scott Roxborough, HollywoodReporter, 25 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 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
  1. insults
  2. criticisms
  3. sarcasms
  4. condemnations
  5. disparagements
  6. abuses
Noun
  • But Ridgeway pushes on, trying various means — flattery, insults, amateur psychology — to cajole her into delivering a new Ripley book.
    — Damon Wise, Deadline, 15 Sep. 2026
  • Those who drive past our protests and yell insults or flip us the bird are to be pitied.
    — Sun Sentinel Editorial Board, Sun Sentinel, 11 Sep. 2026
Definition of insults
Noun
  • Alongside his criticisms of Britain, the Argentine president devoted some invective to the United Nations itself.
    — Adrienne Vogt, CNN Money, 23 Sep. 2026
  • Yet the traditions of these holidays stand alongside the criticisms, both of which allow for debate, revision of celebration, and dissemination of knowledge without tossing out holidays wholesale.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 22 Sep. 2026
Definition of criticisms
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
Definition of sarcasms
Noun
  • By the time Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived on the floor of the United Nations, his country had been on the receiving end of scores of condemnations from the podium for two days.
    — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The executions, announced Sunday, triggered condemnations by rights groups in the North African country that is divided between rival administrations, each backed by a set of militias and foreign governments.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of condemnations
Noun
  • These disparagements cut to the core of southern manhood.
    — Rob Wolfe, The Atlantic, 5 June 2026
Definition of disparagements
Noun
  • The Special Criminal Court was established to try war crimes and other human-rights abuses committed during the coups and violence that the country has experienced since 2003.
    — Arkansas Online, Arkansas Online, 24 Sep. 2026
  • The Special Criminal Court was established to try war crimes and other human rights abuses committed during the coups and violence that the country has experienced since 2003.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 23 Sep. 2026
Definition of abuses

Browse Nearby Words

put down
put-downs
put forth
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Put-downs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/put-downs. Accessed 28 Sep. 2026.

Copy Citation
Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

More from Merriam-Webster

Word of the Day

Listen to the pronunciation of fungible

See Definitions and Examples »

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

More Commonly Mispronounced Words

Merriam-Webster’s Great Big List of Words You Love to Hate

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List

9 Words That Sound Like Insults But Aren't

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World

Why do we 'bury the lede?'
See More

Popular

See More

Do You Need a New Language Peeve?

7 Great Ways to Say 'Great'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of the words cracker fly and sale arranged in a triangle with the word fire in the middle
Triple Play Quiz Find the word that pairs with each of the three g...
See All