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demean

de·mean

UK/ˌdiːˈmiːn/ US/dɪˈmiːn/ rare archaic obsolete

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

Origin

(1595) From de- + mean (“lowly, base, common”), from Middle English mene, aphetic variation of imene (“mean, base, common”), from Old English ġemǣne (“mean, common”). Compare English bemean.

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WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.