condescend

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. i. stoop, deign, descend, vouchsafe. See humility, pride.

II

(Roget's IV) v.

Syn. vouchsafe, stoop, deign, lower oneself, humble oneself, demean oneself, degrade oneself, submit with good grace, patronize, assume a patronizing air, assume a superior air, talk down to, lower one's tone, graciously stoop, unbend, accommodate oneself to (one regarded as inferior), descend, waive a privilege, favor, accord, come down off one's high horse*, come down a peg*, sing small*; see also patronize 2 .

Syn.- condescend implies a voluntary descent by one high in rank, power, etc. to act graciously or affably toward one regarded as his inferior [ the general condescended to talk with the private ] ; stoop implies a descending in dignity, as by committing some shameful or immoral act [ to stoop to cheating ] ; deign connotes unwilling or arrogant condescension [ the duchess deigned to shake my hand ] and, hence, is most frequently used in negative constructions or with such qualifications as hardly, scarcely, barely [ she didn't deign to reply; he would scarcely deign to appear in public ]

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) (VOCABULARY WORD) v.

[KON di send]

to lower oneself to the level of another with lesser status. Also, to talk down to someone.

Our teacher was willing to condescend and take the advice of students. He fancied himself a big shot and spoke condescendingly to everyone.

SYN.:

1. descend, humble oneself, bend, *come down off one's high horse, vouchsafe, deign, stoop, lower oneself, yield.

2. talk down to, patronize, talk down one's nose, regard with hauteur.

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb 1. To descend to a level considered inappropriate to one's dignity: deign, stoop, vouchsafe. See OVER, RISE. 2. To treat in a superciliously indulgent manner: patronize. Informal: highhat. Idiom: speak (or talk) down to. See ATTITUDE, OVER, RESPECT, RISE.