Some 16th-century Italian clergymen tried to ban coffee because they believed it to be “satanic.” However, Pope Clement VII loved coffee so much that he lifted the ban and had coffee baptized in 1600.
BELITTLE
diminish, belittle
(verb) lessen the authority, dignity, or reputation of; “don’t belittle your colleagues”
disparage, belittle, pick at
(verb) express a negative opinion of; “She disparaged her student’s efforts”
minimize, belittle, denigrate, derogate
(verb) cause to seem less serious; play down; “Don’t belittle his influence”
Source: WordNet® 3.1
Etymology
Verb
belittle (third-person singular simple present belittles, present participle belittling, simple past and past participle belittled)
(transitive) To knowingly say that something is smaller or less important than it actually is. [from 1782]
Synonyms: understate, make light of, denigrate, degrade, deprecate, disparage, downplay, play down, trivialize, bagatellize
Antonym: exaggerate
Source: Wiktionary
Be*lit"tle, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Belittled; p. pr. & vb. n. Belittling.]
Definition: To make little or less in a moral sense; to speak of in a depreciatory or contemptuous way. T. Jefferson.
Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition
Recent Word Finds
Word of the Day
25 February 2025
ENDLESSLY
(adverb) (spatial sense) seeming to have no bounds; “the Nubian desert stretched out before them endlessly”
Coffee Trivia
