Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
🏠 A small porch 🤸 To bend forward ⬇️ To lower oneself 🧓 A bent posture 🦅 To dive (bird) 💧 A holy water basin
to stoop

to stoop

11 8.1
To lower yourself by doing something you think is wrong
  • verb
  • /stuːp/
translation icon : rebajarse a
  • I'm leaving this situation because I should not have to stoop down to that negative level.

I'm leaving this situation because I should not have to stoop down to that negative level.

Autoplay Next

Examples

  • During the debate, he felt he had to stoop to personal attacks instead of focusing on the issues.

  • I'm just trying to get you to keep from stooping to my level.

    All Eyez on Me (2017)

  • I mean, do you have any idea what your parents would think if they knew you stooped to this?

    Safe Men (1998)

  • Laura, being a mother, should have never stooped that low to bring nobody's kids into their mess.

    Blog text (4)

  • I'm sure he'll be delighted to know that one of his people is stooping to using Republican tactics.

    Blog text (19)

  • We can have a debate on abortion, and I am pro-choice, without stooping to this level.

    Blog text (2)

  • Be as blunt as possible without stooping to her level of rudeness.

    Blog text (1)

  • Thus, LeMay unwittingly confirmed that the United States had stooped to the level of the Nazis.

    Academic text (2005)

  • I refuse to stoop to their level and engage in petty arguments.

  • She was disappointed to see her friend stoop to dishonesty for the sake of winning.

Synonyms

to stoop to
vsto stoop
19 7.7

Do something you think is beneath you because you feel you have to

is broader and means moral lowering regardless of necessity
to descend
vsto stoop
9 7.4

Do something you think is beneath your dignity

stresses moral wrongness and personal honor rather than mere action
to deign
vsto stoop
  • Formal
7 9.5

To do something someone thinks is below them, usually unwillingly

focuses on shameful lowering rather than showing superiority while acting
to lower oneself
vsto stoop
  • Informal
4 6.5

Act in a way that makes people respect you less

focuses on doing something morally wrong under personal honor standards
to condescend
vsto stoop
3 8.1

To do something you think is below you but do it anyway

describes real moral lowering rather than acting with superiority

Antonyms

to rise
154 2.7

To move to a higher job or position

Idioms

no poop on the stoop
  • Informal
9.9

A sign asking dog owners not to let their dogs poop on the front steps

Phrasal Verbs

to stoop to
19 7.7

Do something you think is beneath you because you feel you have to

Compounds

poop stoop
  • NSFW
9.4

An area where people pick up dog poop

How Low

to stoop
11 8.1
to lower oneself
  • Informal
4 6.5

Surface Forms

stoop infinitive
stooped past
stooped past participle
stooping present participle
stoops third person singular

Etymology

Stoop meaning 'to lower oneself' comes from the physical image of 'bending down', so to stoop to bad behaviour is to bring yourself down to a lower level.