Nominal Forms
Infinitive: to belittle
Participle: belittled
Gerund: belittling
Cognates
-
Indicative
Present
| I | belittle |
| you | belittle |
| he;she;it | belittles |
| we | belittle |
| you | belittle |
| they | belittle |
Perfect
| I | have belittled |
| you | have belittled |
| he;she;it | has belittled |
| we | have belittled |
| you | have belittled |
| they | have belittled |
Past
| I | belittled |
| you | belittled |
| he;she;it | belittled |
| we | belittled |
| you | belittled |
| they | belittled |
Pluperfect
| I | had belittled |
| you | had belittled |
| he;she;it | had belittled |
| we | had belittled |
| you | had belittled |
| they | had belittled |
Future
| I | will belittle |
| you | will belittle |
| he;she;it | will belittle |
| we | will belittle |
| you | will belittle |
| they | will belittle |
Future Perfect
| I | will have belittled |
| you | will have belittled |
| he;she;it | will have belittled |
| we | will have belittled |
| you | will have belittled |
| they | will have belittled |
Subjunctive
Present
| I | belittle |
| you | belittle |
| he;she;it | belittle |
| we | belittle |
| you | belittle |
| they | belittle |
Perfect
| I | have belittled |
| you | have belittled |
| he;she;it | have belittled |
| we | have belittled |
| you | have belittled |
| they | have belittled |
Imperfect
| I | belittled |
| you | belittled |
| he;she;it | belittled |
| we | belittled |
| you | belittled |
| they | belittled |
Pluperfect
| I | had belittled |
| you | had belittled |
| he;she;it | had belittled |
| we | had belittled |
| you | had belittled |
| they | had belittled |
Conditional
Present
| I | would belittle |
| you | would belittle |
| he;she;it | would belittle |
| we | would belittle |
| you | would belittle |
| they | would belittle |
Perfect
| I | would have belittled |
| you | would have belittled |
| he;she;it | would have belittled |
| we | would have belittled |
| you | would have belittled |
| they | would have belittled |
Imperative
| you | belittle |
| we | Let's belittle |
| you | belittle |
Verbs conjugated like 'belittle'
abacinate,
abalienate,
abase,
abate,
abbreviate,
abdicate,
abduce,
aberrate,
aberuncate,
abirritate,
abjudge,
abjudicate,
abjugate,
abjure,
ablactate,
ablaqueate,
able,
ablegate,
abligate,
abnegate, etc. (List truncated at 20 verbs)
Verbs similar to 'belittle'
belitter,
berattle,
bespittle,
betitle,
battle,
bedimple,
beetle,
befile,
begirdle,
beglitter,
Synonyms & Antonyms
Synonyms
- to try to diminish the reputation of
- asperse, assassinate, backbite, badmouth, belibel, besmirch, blaze, blemish, blot, calumniate, calumny, cloud, cut down, defame, demonize, denigrate, derogate, detract, discredit, disgrace, disparage, diss, forgab, infamize, libel, monster, reproach, scandal, shit-talk, slander, speak ill of, talk shit, talk shite, talk trash, traduce, trash-talk, vilify, vilipend, vituperate
- disparage
- deprecate, decry, ridicule, lower, denigrate
Antonyms
- to play at [[courtship]]
- cockblock, flirt
Additional Information
Phrasal Verbs
Etymology
1. 1781, "to make small," from
little, first recorded in writings of Thomas Jefferson (and probably coined by him), who was execrated for it in England.
"Belittle! What an expression! It may be an elegant one in Virginia, and even perfectly intelligible; but for our part, all we can do is to guess at its meaning. For shame, Mr. Jefferson!" ["European Magazine and London Review," 1787, reporting on "Notes on the State of Virginia"; to guess was considered another barbarous Yankeeism.]
The fig. sense of "depreciate, scorn as worthless" is from 1797.
2. From be- + little. Coined by Thomas Jefferson in 1782.
Sample Sentences
-
Don't belittle your colleagues.
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An essential part of any German campaign is obviously the efficiency of its lines of communication and therefore it is dangerous to belittle our enemy's strength in this direction. [1941 March, “Notes and News: Underestimating the Enemy's Strength”, in Railway Magazine, page 129:]
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Under the rules as understood by the New York Times, the West is free to mock and belittle its Judeo-Christian inheritance, and, likewise, the Muslim world is free to mock and belittle the West's Judeo-Christian inheritance. [2006, Mark Steyn, chapter 9, in America Alone: The End of the World as We Know It, →ISBN, page 201:]
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For many of us, the realization that people in power, regardless of political party, would belittle, name call and seek retribution has been a shock. [2025 April 11, Carol Burton, “What We Believed About America”, in The New York Times, New York, N.Y.: The New York Times Company, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 11 Apr 2025:]
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Now, the big blue space of river and sky belittled him, ulled him back into bewildered childhood. [2022, Ian McEwan, Lessons, page 357:]