to look down on
53
3.7
- phrasal verb
- Offensive
:
menospreciar
- It is frustrating to see some students look down on those who struggle academically.
But the more they looked down on him, that was the irony.
- But the more they looked down on him, that was the irony.
- All this talk about I'm looking down on people.
- And not just respect others, but you don't look down on other people.
- But I can't do that because people might look down on me.
- And he'd just sit there arrogant and, you know, you're almost looking down on us.
- He's a he's a greedy, arrogant businessman who looks down on the poor and the criminals and the destitute.
- It is still what the cool kids do in history and the establishment still looks down on it.
- In terms of your mistakes, society tells you don't make them because we will judge you and we will look down on you.
- But at the end of the day, it's important to to allow these people to thrive and don't look down on them.
- It's it, it's looking down on your audience because respecting the audience is essential to good storytelling.
Examples
-
The Chinese society looks down on people who are from rural or agricultural backgrounds.
-
Any of you like people looking down on you saying bad things about you?
-
Her mother thought she looked down on her because she had more education.
Fiction book (1994) -
Who the heck are you to look down on their goal?
-
And not just respect others, but you don't look down on other people.
-
The only thing that had galled her was how they looked down on everyone.
Fiction book (1998) -
Some Thais look down on farmers or view the work as simple, but agriculture is hard.
Academic text (2017) -
Well, what I can't stand is when people look down on others who aren't doing 'em any harm.
-
Many people look down on others simply because of their job title.
-
Cultural attitudes often cause certain groups to look down on those from different backgrounds.
Synonyms
55
4.9
To make someone feel unimportant by saying bad things about them
52
7.0
To treat someone as if you are better or smarter than them
51
5.5
To show dislike and no respect for someone or something
23
7.8
To feel strong dislike and no respect for someone or something
15
6.6
Speak to someone as if they are less smart or important
15
6.4
To treat a person or thing as not worthy of respect
14
6.7
To speak to someone as if they are less smart or less important
7
8.2
Treat someone as if you are better than them
3
5.6
To not approve of something
3
8.6
To say bad things about someone to make them look worse
3
7.5
To show you think something is not good enough
1
9.9
To treat someone as unimportant and show strong dislike for them
1
7.1
To speak badly about someone or something in public
Talk to someone in a way that shows you feel better than them
To say things that make other people feel small
Antonyms
How Respectful
743
1.6
56
3.2
- Texting
49
1.0
- Offensive
53
3.7
192
4.9
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to think you are better than someone' is a metaphorical extension of the literal components: 'down' evokes lower status and 'look' suggests attitude, so the parts give a clue but do not directly yield the idiomatic sense. Because the contemptuous meaning relies on a social metaphor (not a literal downward gaze) and the particle 'on' contributes idiomatic function, learners who know the words may suspect a related meaning but often cannot fully predict it without prior exposure.
Etymology
Look down on comes from a simple image: someone standing higher and looking down at a person below, as if that person is lower. That's why it means 'to think you are better than someone'.