demean

Verb

Synonyms: take down degrade disgrace put down

WordNet 3.0

Verb (1)

reduce in worth or character, usually verbally“She tends to put down younger women colleagues”“His critics took him down after the lecture”Synonyms: take down degrade disgrace put down

Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)

Demean \De*mean"\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Demeaned; p. pr. & vb. n. Demeaning.] [OF. demener to conduct, guide, manage, F. se d['e]mener to struggle; pref. d['e]- (L. de) + mener to lead, drive, carry on, conduct, fr. L. minare to drive animals by threatening cries, fr. minari to threaten. See Menace.]

1.To manage; to conduct; to treat. [1913 Webster]

[Our] clergy have with violence demeaned the matter.— Milton.[1913 Webster]

2.To conduct; to behave; to comport; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. [1913 Webster]

They have demeaned themselves Like men born to renown by life or death.— Shak.[1913 Webster]

They answered . . . that they should demean themselves according to their instructions.— Clarendon.[1913 Webster]

3.To debase; to lower; to degrade; -- followed by the reflexive pronoun. [1913 Webster]

Her son would demean himself by a marriage with an artist's daughter.— Thackeray.[1913 Webster]

Note: This sense is probably due to a false etymology which regarded the word as connected with the adjective mean. [1913 Webster]

Demean \De*mean"\, n. [OF. demene. See Demean, v. t.]

1.Management; treatment. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

Vile demean and usage bad.— Spenser.[1913 Webster]

2.Behavior; conduct; bearing; demeanor. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

With grave demean and solemn vanity.— West.[1913 Webster]

Demean \De*mean"\, n. [See Demesne.]

1.Demesne. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

2.pl. Resources; means. [Obs.] [1913 Webster]

You know How narrow our demeans are.— Massinger.[1913 Webster]