to stoop to
19
7.7
- phrasal verb
- /stuːp tuː/
:
rebajarse a
- She refused to stoop to their level, even when they insulted her repeatedly.
- never stoop to
- stoop to their level
- stoop to such low
It's a cultural black mark against your name that you would stoop to to support this.
- It's a cultural black mark against your name that you would stoop to to support this.
Examples
-
Yeah, well, don't stoop to his level.
-
Randy, don't stoop to his level.
-
We can no longer stoop to his level.
-
We will not stoop to her level.
-
I never thought you would stoop to her level!
-
I mean, do you have any idea what your parents would think if they knew you stooped to this?
-
There's no need to stoop to their level.
-
You cannot defend your arguments with reason, so you stoop to personal insult as soon as possible.
Blog text (9) -
Her pride had never permitted her to stoop to self-pity.
Fiction book (1995) -
We can have a debate on abortion, and I am pro-choice, without stooping to this level.
Blog text (2)
Synonyms
11
8.1
To lower yourself by doing something you think is wrong
9
7.4
Do something you think is beneath your dignity
4
6.5
Act in a way that makes people respect you less
How Low
Surface Forms
Morphology
stoop + to
The MWE is a metaphorical extension of the verb 'stoop' (literally to bend or, in the provided definition, to degrade oneself) with the particle 'to' introducing the action; the meaning 'lower oneself morally' is related to the constituent meaning but requires a figurative shift. A B1 learner who only knows the literal physical sense of 'stoop' may not reliably predict the moral/pejorative sense without prior exposure, so the item is partially but not fully transparent.
Etymology
The phrasal verb stoop to comes from the image of stoop, meaning to bend down or lower your body, like when you pick something up from the ground. That idea of physically lowering became a way to talk about lowering your standards, so 'to stoop to' means 'to lower yourself' to do something seen as beneath you.