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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

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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

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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
  • Since taking over as Fed chair in May after Trump nominated him in January, Warsh so far has not been on the receiving end of the president’s criticisms.
    — Rachel Barber, USA Today, 16 Sep. 2026
  • One of the biggest criticisms of the Chiefs offense last season was that the team didn’t do enough to help Mahomes.
    — Jesse Newell, New York Times, 15 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
  • Piker, whose inflammatory comments about American Jews have drawn condemnations across the aisle, has been a frequent flyer on the campaign trail and appeared with Michigan Senate nominee Abdul el Sayed before the state’s primary elections.
    — Hailey Bullis, The Washington Examiner, 26 Aug. 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
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Cite this Entry

“Put-downs.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/put-downs. Accessed 25 Sep. 2026.

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