belittle
/bɪˈlɪt.əl/
Word Rarity
Rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 2.86 in modern English
10
Scrabble Score
8
Letters
3
Syllables
5
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To disparage, depreciate, or minimize the importance, value, merit, or significance of someone or something.
Example Sentences
- "Don't belittle your colleagues."
- "An essential part of any German campaign is obviously the efficiency of its lines of communication and therefore it is dangerous to belittle our enemy's strength in this direction."
- "Under the rules as understood by the New York Times, the West is free to mock and belittle its Judeo-Christian inheritance, and, likewise, the Muslim world is free to mock and belittle the West's Judeo-Christian inheritance."
- "For many of us, the realization that people in power, regardless of political party, would belittle, name call and seek retribution has been a shock."
- "Now, the big blue space of river and sky belittled him, ulled him back into bewildered childhood."
Etymology
Word Breakdown
- Prefix: be
Regional Pronunciation
- American English: /bɪˈlɪt.əl/
- British English: /bɪˈlɪt.əl/