condescend Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. verb behave in a patronizing and condescending manner
  2. verb do something that one considers to be below one's dignity
    deign; descend.
  3. verb debase oneself morally, act in an undignified, unworthy, or dishonorable way
    stoop; lower oneself.
    • I won't stoop to reading other people's mail
  4. verb treat condescendingly
    patronise; patronize.

WordNet

Con`de*scend" intransitive verb
Etymology
F. condescendre, LL. condescendere, fr. L. con- + descendere. See Descend.
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Condescended; present participle & verbal noun Condescending
Definitions
  1. To stoop or descend; to let one's self down; to submit; to waive the privilege of rank or dignity; to accommodate one's self to an inferior. "Condescend to men of low estate." Rom. xii. 16.
    Can they think me so broken, so debased With corporal servitude, that my mind ever Will condescend to such absurd commands? Milton.
    Spain's mighty monarch, In gracious clemency, does condescend, On these conditions, to become your friend. Dryden.
    Often used ironically, implying an assumption of superiority.
    Those who thought they were honoring me by condescending to address a few words to me. F. W. Robinson.
  2. To consent. Obs.
    All parties willingly condescended heruento. R. Carew.
    Syn. -- To yield; stoop; descend; deign; vouchsafe.

Webster 1913