look down on
Feel superior toward
To look down on someone is to regard them as inferior or beneath you: She looks down on people who didn't go to college.
The phrase evokes the physical posture of contempt—chin raised, eyes cast downward at the object of disdain.
Looking down on can target people, behaviors, or entire ways of life: He looks down on fast food.
Scornful disregard
- scornHostile dismissive feeling
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
- derisionContemptuous mockery
sneering · haughtiness · belittlement · disparagement · superciliousness · contempt · dismissiveness · disrespect
Unfair inclination or prejudice
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- stereotypingOversimplified group-based judgments
- elitismPreference for privileged rule
classism · racism · sexism · snobbery · xenophobia · intolerance · social stratification · othering
Unfavorable opinion expressed
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
- criticismJudgment of faults
- reproachExpression of disappointment
- rebukeExpress sharp disapproval
denouncement · condemnation · moral judgment · faultfinding · reproval · admonishment · castigation · finger-wagging
disdain
Scornful disregard
- scornHostile dismissive feeling
- condescensionDemeaning air of superiority
- snobberyPretentious social superiority
derision · sneering · haughtiness · belittlement · disparagement · superciliousness · contempt · dismissiveness · disrespect · mockery
bias
Unfair inclination or prejudice
- bigotryIntolerance toward differing views
- discriminationUnjust differential treatment
- stereotypingOversimplified group-based judgments
elitism · classism · racism · sexism · snobbery · xenophobia · intolerance · social stratification · othering · marginalization
disapproval
Unfavorable opinion expressed
- censureFormal institutional disapproval
- criticismJudgment of faults
- reproachExpression of disappointment
rebuke · denouncement · condemnation · moral judgment · faultfinding · reproval · admonishment · castigation · finger-wagging · tutting
- contemptcontempt, scorn, disdain, despise, derision
- idiomstime flies, hit the sack, seize the day, ring a bell, break a leg
- lord it overboss around, bully, intimidate, dominate, oppress
- arrogancearrogant, conceited, pompous, vain, haughty
- disapprovaldisapproval, scowl, disapprove, disapproves, frown
- rudenessrude, discourtesy, impolite, rudeness, disrespect