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vähätellä — meaning in English

Finnish → English · translate English → Finnish instead

English meaning

  • 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.
  • deprecate verb To express disapproval of, protest or plead against.
  • derogate verb To partially repeal (a law etc.).
  • detract verb To take away; to withdraw or remove.
  • disparage noun Inequality in marriage; marriage with an inferior.
  • downplay verb To de-emphasize; to present or portray as less important or consequential.
  • minimize verb To reduce something to the smallest possible amount or size.
  • snub verb To deliberately ignore or treat someone coldly, as an insult.
  • trivialize verb To make something appear trivial
  • understate verb To state (something) with less completeness than needed; to minimise or downplay.

Senses

vähätellä is used for these senses in English:

  • 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 (obsolete) To manage; to conduct; to treat.
  • demean (now rare) To conduct; to behave; to comport; followed by the reflexive pronoun.
  • denigrate (transitive) To treat as worthless; belittle, degrade or disparage.
  • deprecate (transitive) To express disapproval of, protest or plead against.
  • derogate (transitive) To detract from (something); to disparage, belittle. [from 16th c.]
  • detract (transitive) To take credit or reputation from; to derogate; to defame or decry.
  • disparage To dishonor by a comparison with what is inferior; to lower in rank or estimation by actions or words; to speak slightingly of; to depreciate; to undervalue.

Related Finnish words