look down one's nose

look down one's nose

English

Verb

look down one's nose

1. (idiomatic, usually followed by at) To regard as inferior or distasteful; to hold in contempt.
   • 1940, Gertrude Franklin Horn Atherton, The House of Lee (2005 Kessinger ed.), ISBN 9781419135378, p. 98:

     You look too high and mighty; customers would think you were looking down your nose at them.

   • 1952, "The Press: Fried Crow, à la Mode," Time, 24 March:

     The New York Daily News's Columnist John O'Donnell, a Taftman, looked down his nose at Eisenhower's campaign.

   • 2003, Joy Fielding, Whispers and Lies, ISBN 9780770429195, p. 7:

     [S]he has such a superior look about her, you know, like some snooty society matron, looking down her nose at the rest of us.

Translations

To regard as inferior or distasteful; to hold in contempt

Italian: guardare dall'alto in basso Russian: смотре́ть с высока́ impf (smotrétʹ s vysoká)

Spanish: mirar por encima del hombro

See also

• look down on
• turn up one's nose