Definition

To do something that one considers beneath one’s dignity or to condescend to do something.

Pronunciation

US English

UK English


See Synonyms, Antonyms and Usage

Excerpts from News Articles

1

"Rightly so," he added. "If Mr Karl Liew acknowledges that, then he ought to channel all of his righteous indignation in that scenario and demand that such behaviour of one who would deign to do that to him must be met with an appropriately robust penalty to deter such conduct and prevent others from suffering that same fate. That is precisely what this court is doing."

Logo 2023-04-14 Channel NewsAsia

2

He wrote in Cosmos that even if extraterrestrial life shared our biochemistry, it would have no reason to look at all like life on Earth. But—twist his arm!—he deigned to conjure an example, picking a planetary environment that seemed uninhabitable to more conservative minds, a gas giant like Jupiter. That planet has no solid surface, just a dense atmosphere of hydrogen, helium, methane, and ammonia, where “organic molecules may be falling from the skies like manna from heaven.

Logo 2023-04-18 Literary Hub

3

00GB VM was still rejected. Finally, at 19GB, it deigned to try. We ticked the boxes for optional drivers and updates, and the installer froze, although the VM stayed responsive.

Logo 2023-04-04 The Register

4

“Having the White House be public about this is is meaningful. And I suspect — I would never deign to speak for the president — but I suspect that the contemporary veterans in his family have helped him understand this,” said Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Mass.), who has spoken about his PTSD after serving in the military.

Logo 2023-04-17 Politico

5

Is it to supplant American hegemony and, in the terms of some cheap political thriller, to take over the world? And if so, how exactly would ‘taking over the world’ manifest itself? Tributary states were how the Qing Dynasty, who ruled from 1644 until 1911, showed its control over its neighbours. Countries like Korea and Vietnam were allowed some independence providing they recognised the superiority of their larger neighbour by bringing tributes to the Qing emperor which he would deign to accept. It was not trade because as Qian Long politely pointed out to the British when they arrived at the end of the eighteenth century hoping to trade: ‘We possess all things.

Logo 2023-04-17 The Spectator

6

As readers, we accept the protagonist’s view of her situation. Jess, Jess, and Claire don’t interrogate the fact that they live in a society which allows an unmarried father to take zero financial responsibility for the child but expects the mother to bear it all, along with the caregiving responsibilities, unless he deigns to participate.

Logo 2023-05-12 Literary Hub