de haut en bas

de haut en bas

English

Etymology

From French du haut en bas (“from on high to low”)

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dəˌ(h)əʊtɒnˈba/

Adverb

de haut en bas (not comparable)

1. With condescension; superciliously. Also used attributively.
   • 1913, D.H. Lawrence, Sons and Lovers, chapter 4

     The landlady looked at him de haut en bas, rather pitying, and at the same time, resenting his clear, fierce morality.

   • 2016, Stoddard Martin, Literary Review, April 2016, p. 19:

     Thomas initially took a de haut en bas attitude to Nazism, expecting it to be a flash in the pan.

Translations

with condescension

Russian: свысока́ (ru) (svysoká)

References

• E. Cobham Brewer. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898