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belittleto make someone or something seem less important or impressive than they really are

Part of speech: VERB

Definition: to make someone or something seem less important or impressive than they really are

Pronunciation (IPA): /bɪˈlɪtl/

Korean meaning: 폄하하다, 얕보다, 하찮게 만들다

Korean pronunciation: 비**리**틀

Example Sentences

  • The boss loves to belittle his employees' ideas during meetings.
  • Don't belittle yourself - your cooking is actually quite good!
  • My cat seems to belittle my existence by ignoring me completely.

belittle

VERB

//bɪˈlɪtl//

to make someone or something seem less important or impressive than they really are

belittle concept
💡 Concept

A dismissive boss belittles the employee's presentation with condescending gestures

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belittle rhyme
🎵 Rhyme

Don't belittle the little - even giants turn brittle

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🎤Pronunciation

🇺🇸 US/bɪˈlɪtl/
🇬🇧 UK/bɪˈlɪtl/

🌳Etymology

Prefixbe--
Rootlittle

Origin

From the prefix 'be-' (meaning to make or cause) combined with the adjective 'little' (meaning small). The word emerged in English in the late 18th century as a verb meaning to make something seem small or unimportant.

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🎵Rhyme

littlewhittlebrittle
little
whittle
brittle

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📝Examples

The boss loves to belittle his employees' ideas during meetings.

Don't belittle yourself - your cooking is actually quite good!

😄 Fun example

My cat seems to belittle my existence by ignoring me completely.

He tried to belittle her PhD by saying 'anyone can get one these days.'

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Etymology, AI images, rhymes, collocations & examples — all in one!

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📚Related Words

Synonyms

diminishdisparagedeprecateminimizeundervalue

Antonyms

praiseexaltmagnify

Related

criticizemockscornhumiliate