demean
To debase; to lower; to degradeTo debase; to lower; to degrade.
» I didn't mean to demean you.
Meaning
6 senses(transitive)To debase; to lower; to degrade.
herabwürdigen, entwürdigen, erniedrigen
(transitive)To humble; to humiliate.
(transitive)To mortify.
(transitive)To subtract the mean from (a value, or every observation in a data set).
(obsolete, transitive)To manage; to conduct; to treat.
kleinmachen, demütigen, erniedrigen
(archaic, transitive)To conduct; to behave; to comport; followed by the reflexive pronoun.
benehmen, verhalten, führen
- reduce in worth or character, usually verbally
Examples
12 sentencesI didn't mean to demean you.
You don't have to be so demeaning.
Billy uses his language skills to demean and humiliate those who are learning English.
It really feels demeaning.
He was demeaning himself.
Translations
3 languagesBy meaning 5
Origin
(1595) From de- + mean (“lowly, base, common”), from Middle English mene, aphetic variatio(1595) From de- + mean (“lowly, base, common”), from Middle English mene, aphetic variation of imene (“mean, base, common”), from Old English ġemǣne (“mean, common”). Compare English bemean.
From Middle English demenen, demeinen, from Anglo-Norman demener, from Old French demener, from de- + mener (“to conduct, lead”), from Latin mināre, from minārī (“to threaten”).
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Forms
demeans, demeaning, demeaned, demeanedSynonyms
39 synonymsAntonyms
2 antonymsWord family
3 related wordsLessons for this word
3 lessons- A1Present simple — Because it is a verb
- A1Past simple, regular verbs — Because of its past form
- A2Present perfect: introduction — Because of its past participle