different between condescend vs condescending
condescend
English
Etymology
From Middle English condescenden, from Old French condescendre, from Late Latin cond?scendere (“to let one's self down, stoop, condescend”), from Latin con- (“together”) + d?scendere, present active infinitive of d?scend? (“I come down”); see descend.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /?k?nd??s?nd/
- (US) IPA(key): /?k??nd??s?nd/
Verb
condescend (third-person singular simple present condescends, present participle condescending, simple past and past participle condescended)
- (intransitive) To come down from one's superior position; to deign (to do something).
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, act 1, scene 2:
- Spain's mighty monarch […] / In gracious clemency, does condescend / On these conditions, to become your friend.
- 1665, John Dryden, The Indian Emperour, act 1, scene 2:
- (intransitive) To treat (someone) as though inferior; to be patronizing (toward someone); to talk down (to someone).
- 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 14:
- I admire that admiration which the genteel world sometimes extends to the commonalty. There is no more agreeable object in life than to see Mayfair folks condescending.
- At her invitation he outlined for her the succeeding chapters with terse military accuracy?; and what she liked best and best understood was avoidance of that false modesty which condescends, turning technicality into pabulum.
- 1848, William Makepeace Thackeray, Vanity Fair, Chapter 14:
- (transitive, rare, possibly nonstandard) To treat (someone) as though inferior; to be patronizing toward (someone); to talk down to (someone).
- ANDIE. I wasn't condescending you; I was just asking.
- THOMAS. No. You said “angry black man.” Like my anger only exists in a stereotype. That's condescending.
- (intransitive, obsolete) To consent, agree.
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1134-36:
- Can they think me so broken, so debased / With corporal servitude, that my mind ever / Will condescend to such absurd commands?
- 1671, John Milton, Samson Agonistes, lines 1134-36:
- (intransitive, obsolete) To come down.
Usage notes
- "Condescend" is a catenative verb that takes the to infinitive. See Appendix:English catenative verbs
- In sense “to talk down”, the derived participial adjective condescending (and corresponding adverb condescendingly) are more common than the verb itself.
- In older usage, "condescend" could be used non-pejoratively (in a sense similar to that of treating someone as inferior) to describe the action of those who socialized in a friendly way with their social inferiors. Now that the concept of social inferiors has largely fallen out of currency, so has this non-pejorative sense. Thus, in w:Pride_and_Prejudice, a character could say of another, "I need not say you will be delighted with her. She is all affability and condescension.”
Synonyms
- (come down from superior position): acquiesce, deign, stoop, vouchsafe
- (talk down, treat as inferior): patronize, belittle, put on airs
- (consent): yield
- (come down): descend
Related terms
- condescendence
- condescend upon
- condescension
- descend
Translations
Further reading
- condescend in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913.
- condescend in The Century Dictionary, New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911.
condescend From the web:
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condescending
English
Pronunciation
- (UK) IPA(key): /?k?n.d?.s?nd.??/, /?k?n?di.s?nd.??/
- (US) IPA(key): /?k?nd??s?nd??/
Adjective
condescending (comparative more condescending, superlative most condescending)
- Assuming a tone of superiority, or a patronizing attitude.
Synonyms
- (assuming a tone of superiority): patronizing
Derived terms
- condescendingly
Related terms
- condescendence
- condescension
Translations
Verb
condescending
- present participle of condescend
condescending From the web:
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- what condescending means in arabic
- what's condescending tone
- what's condescending in german
- what's condescending in french
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