How to Use belittle in a Sentence

belittle

verb
  • The critic belittled the author's work.
  • Her detractors are in the habit of belittling her accomplishments.
  • But there are many people with a voice that belittles them.
    — Georg Szalai, HollywoodReporter, 12 Nov. 2025
  • Don’t belittle or beat up on people who don’t want to wear a mask.
    — Dallas News, 10 Mar. 2021
  • Daisy’s mother belittled her as a child, telling her that no one wants to hear her voice.
    — Hugh Hart, Los Angeles Times, 21 Aug. 2023
  • Throughout our years in this country it has been used to scorn and belittle us.
    — Newsweek, 14 Mar. 2018
  • Bella, who some may think drinks too much, blames and belittles herself.
    — Ashley Lee, Houston Chronicle, 3 Feb. 2020
  • The bride shared that the moment left her feeling belittled, even as guests laughed along.
    — Ashley Vega, PEOPLE, 6 Nov. 2025
  • At work and elsewhere, there are people who bring out the worst in us, belittle us, or just bring us down.
    — Arthur C. Brooks, The Atlantic, 13 May 2021
  • Others say they were ignored by bosses, belittled by them and snubbed by them.
    — Stephanie Wang, Indianapolis Star, 18 Sep. 2017
  • Don’t belittle someone who is at least trying to make the world better.
    — Ann Killion, SFChronicle.com, 29 Aug. 2020
  • At the time, some leaders found his comments belittling and a bad message.
    — Alex Gangitano, The Hill, 30 Oct. 2024
  • Just a few idioms belittle height, such as having your head in the clouds or looking down your nose.
    — Grant Segall, cleveland, 3 Jan. 2020
  • There were defensive ones, belittling ones, a screaming one and some who cared.
    — John Diedrich, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 9 Jan. 2018
  • Many on both the right and left are either mocking or belittling his legacy (or his prospects over the next nine months).
    — The Christian Science Monitor, 12 Apr. 2018
  • When this conversation gets back to your daughter and wife, you will be belittled and blamed.
    — Ask Amy, oregonlive, 10 Sep. 2019
  • The letter writer felt used and belittled by the stepdaughter, so there’s work to do to keep the peace.
    — R. Eric Thomas, The Mercury News, 18 Jan. 2025
  • Along the way, the women are bullied, belittled and even battered by the movie men who surround them.
    — Patty Rhule, USA TODAY, 16 Jan. 2018
  • He was gaslit by professors who didn’t believe him, and belittled by the media.
    — Ella Cerón, Teen Vogue, 26 Mar. 2018
  • Victims sensed a moment that might mean they would be believed — that they might not be attacked or smeared or belittled.
    — Laura McGann, Vox, 25 Mar. 2018
  • But more than a quarter of the providers were belittling and about 20% did not believe the patient.
    — Linda Carroll, NBC news, 8 May 2025
  • And the unique way men relate to one another deserves to be honored rather than belittled.
    — Kory Floyd, Scientific American, 18 June 2017
  • Trump, on the other hand, belittles and degrades people every day.
    — Chicago Tribune, 20 June 2026
  • Just because someone finds meaning in it doesn’t give you license to belittle or ridicule their beliefs.
    — Mark Travers, Forbes.com, 26 Aug. 2025
  • Fast-food workers belittled This is far from the first time that fast-food workers have been belittled.
    — Byorianna Rosa Royle, Fortune, 12 June 2023
  • For the bookish Bäumer the finest thing that arose out of the war—and could never be belittled—was comradeship.
    — Tobias Grey, WSJ, 7 Dec. 2018
  • In a way, the elimination of the penny is the perfect sort of move for our new, belittling leader.
    — airmail.news, 15 Feb. 2025
  • That’s not meant to belittle the women featured on the show, but this is supposed to be entertainment.
    — Scott D. Pierce, The Salt Lake Tribune, 27 Aug. 2023
  • So much, went the argument, for those who would belittle the oldest cup competition in the world.
    — Rory Smith, New York Times, 31 Jan. 2020
  • That freedom gives Kang the right to exercise free speech and belittle the action taken to raise our flag.
    — Voice Of The People, New York Daily News, 11 May 2024

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'belittle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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