look down on

English

Alternative forms

look down upon

Pronunciation

Audio (AU) (file)

Verb

look down on (third-person singular simple present looks down on, present participle looking down on, simple past and past participle looked down on)

(transitive, idiomatic) To regard or treat as inferior.
- 2009 September 25, Michael Deacon, “Ross Noble: interview”, in Telegraph.co.uk:
  He remembers feeling that people looked down on him, and, ‘realising I was rubbish at academic stuff’, he decided he'd join a circus.
(transitive, idiomatic) To view [people or events on Earth] from the vantage point of the afterlife (originally, Heaven)
- I get a feeling Kurt Cobain is looking down on Nickelback and wondering what alternative rock has become.

Synonyms

look down one's nose (at)

Antonyms

look up to

Translations

to regard or treat as inferior

Arabic: تَرَفَّعَ‎ (taraffaʿa)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 看不起 (zh) (kànbùqǐ), 瞧不起 (zh) (qiāobùqǐ), 小看 (zh) (xiǎokàn), 俯視／俯视 (zh) (fǔshì), 輕視／轻视 (zh) (qīngshì), 鄙視／鄙视 (zh) (bǐshì)
Czech: dívat se spatra impf, povyšovat se
Dutch: neerkijken op
Finnish: ylenkatsoa, halveksia (fi)
French: mépriser (fr), regarder de haut (fr)
German: (general) von oben herab behandeln; (from perspective of superior also) hinabsehen auf, hinabschauen auf; (from perspective of inferior also) herabsehen auf, herabschauen auf
Hungarian: lenéz (hu)
Italian: guardare in basso
Japanese: 見下す (mikudasu), 軽んじる (ja) (karonjiru), 軽視する (ja) (keishi suru), 軽蔑する (ja) (keibetsu suru)
Korean: please add this translation if you can
Latin: despiciō, dēdignor, aspernor
Lithuanian: žiūrėti iš aukšto
Maori: whakatakē, tamatama
Norwegian: se ned på, rakke ned på
Polish: patrzeć z góry (pl) impf
Portuguese: menosprezar (pt)
Russian: смотре́ть свысока́ (smotrétʹ svysoká), презира́ть (ru) impf (prezirátʹ)
Slovak: pozerať (na niekoho) zhora, pozerať opovržlivo
Spanish: menospreciar (es), ningunear (es)
Swedish: se ned på