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kleineren — meaning in English

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English meaning

  • abase verb To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate.
  • belittle verb To speak of someone or something as less important or impressive than it really is, often to show contempt.
  • demean verb To lower someone's dignity or make them seem less worthy of respect.
  • denigrate verb To criticize so as to besmirch; traduce, disparage or defame.
  • vilify verb To say defamatory things about someone or something; to speak ill of.

Senses

kleineren is used for these senses in English:

  • abase (transitive) To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate. [from c. 1350–1470]
  • belittle (transitive) To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is, especially as a way of showing contempt or deprecation. [from 1782]
  • demean To debase; to lower; to degrade.
  • vilify (transitive) To belittle through speech; to put down.

abase — full definition

  1. verb To lower, as in condition in life, office, rank, etc., so as to cause pain or hurt feelings; to degrade, to depress, to humble, to humiliate.
  2. verb To lower physically; to depress; to cast or throw down; to stoop.
  3. verb To lower in value, in particular by altering the content of alloys in coins; to debase.

Related Dutch words