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Glite Dictionary
infra dig

infra dig

1 9.9
A thing people see as below a person's status and not socially acceptable
  • adjective
  • /ˈɪnfrə dɪg/
  • Archaic
translation icon : infra dig
  • Isn't he a little sleazy, Joanie, a bit infra dig?

Examples

  • Many consider wearing jeans to a formal event as infra dig.

  • Would it not be infra dig for me to stop?

    Fiction book (1991)

  • Being essentially without faith myself, I think it rather infra dig to mock the faith of others.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • He believes that it's infra dig to associate with people who don't share his values.

  • She felt it was infra dig to argue with someone of such low status.

Synonyms

beyond the pale
vsinfra dig
  • Informal
12 9.1

Morally and socially wrong to most people

focuses on actions seen as beneath personal dignity rather than moral fault
incivil
vsinfra dig
  • Archaic
9.9

Not having the customs, laws, or arts of a developed society

focuses on being beneath personal dignity rather than cultural backwardness

Antonyms

acceptable
477 2.5

Good enough for a particular use or standard

dignified
71 4.6

Calm and serious in a way that shows self respect and gets respect from others

How Respectable

honorable
  • US
253 3.7
respectable
114 3.0
infra dig
  • Archaic
1 9.9
unseemly
33 7.8
disgraceful
46 3.0
shameful
89 4.7

Surface Forms

infra dig positive

Morphology

infra + dig

“Infra dig” is a learned borrowing from Latin (short for infra dignitatem) and the given constituents are not ordinary, productive English words, so a B1 learner who only knows common English constituent vocabulary would not be able to compose the meaning. The expression is idiomatic and requires lexical or cultural knowledge beyond constituent meanings, so it is not derivable from the parts.

Etymology

Infra dig comes from the old Latin phrase infra dignitatem; infra means 'below' and dig stands for 'dignity', so the image is of something lying under a line of dignity. That's why infra dig is used for things seen as 'beneath one's dignity' or 'socially unacceptable'.