Other forms: belittled; belittling; belittles. To belittle means to put down, or to make another person feel as though they aren't important. Saying mean things about another person literally makes them feel "little." To belittle someone is a cruel way of making someone else seem less important than yourself.
Some common synonyms of belittle are decry, depreciate, and disparage.
They are trying to make themselves feel more powerful or important by putting someone else down. They have low self-esteem and need to build themselves up by making others feel inferior. They may be insecure in the relationship and need to control the other person to maintain their status or power within it.
Narcissists belittle others because they have their own insecurities, fears and flaws, and are afraid of having them exposed to others. In making hurtful comments to others, they reinforce their own feelings of importance and hide the low self-esteem and self-worth that may be lurking within.
Blaming and Projecting. Narcissists are known for never taking responsibility for anything that they are doing wrong, and denying any wrongdoings or negative character traits. They always blame others for everything, even if its clearly their own fault.
Emotional and psychological abuse can take many forms, including belittling, which can manifest as judging, humiliating, criticizing, trivializing or telling hurtful jokes. But belittling is no joking matter. It's a tactic often used by abusers to make their victims feel small, unimportant or disrespected.
There can be many different reasons why a person may feel the need to put others down. Some possible reasons can include low self-esteem, childhood trauma, being bullied themselves, or a lack of empathy.
Use Humor. Try deflecting belittling behavior with humor. Respond with humor or exaggerate the belittling comment and make a joke out of it. Doing this could help someone to realize the outrageousness of what they have said if it is not based on solid facts or evidence.
To show others that they are the strongest and most superior. Because they are jealous. Because they are bored. Because they are already aggressive and want to act out their aggression.
Many people will lash out when they feel personally inadequate, as a way to make them seem superior to others. Jealousy and low self-esteem are main reasons for this type of behavior. Some people will portray others as a joke to make themselves appear more funny when in reality it just comes across as a cheap shot.
The following are examples of what belittling looks like: Yelling or screaming at you to get a reaction. Insulting you — calling you fat, ugly or stupid — or criticizing your parenting skills or intelligence. Ignoring how you feel, disregarding your opinion or failing to recognize your contributions.
A narcissist will manipulate and control others to feel good, which is why they can be abusive in relationships. They can use aggression and be rude, offensive, and belittling towards their partners to wear down their self-worth. This can turn into a sadistic, abusive relationship.
Emotional abuse can affect you in serious ways as well. Emotional abuse is when a partner: Verbally humiliates you.
To demean someone is to insult them. To demean is to degrade or put down a person or thing. If you noticed the word mean in demean, that's a good clue to its meaning. To demean someone is very mean.
It's typically because they are either jealous, insecure, or trying to impress others (which is usually due to being insecure). Keep in mind, if a person is doing this to you, they feel you have something they wish they have, so don't take it too serious.
Emotional abuse can take many forms. Three general patterns of abusive behavior include aggressing, denying, and minimizing.
Condescension: While often disguised as humor, sarcastic comments that are intended to belittle and demean the other person can be a form of verbal abuse.
In narcissistic individuals, the preponderance of their critical inner voices is directed at others and putting others down to make them feel better about themselves.
Narcissists hide who they are by managing their influence.
Due to projective identification, your feelings can reveal how abusers really feel and, in many cases, how they were treated as children. Narcissists hide their secret behind their abuse and bluster, their braggadocio, and their arrogance.
Narcissistic rage occurs when a narcissist's beliefs about their perceived importance or grandiosity are confronted. In turn, they respond with extreme anger toward the perceived threat. Whether narcissistic rage results from criticism, losing control, or minor setbacks, being on the receiving end can be terrifying.
Demeaning behavior is that which is intended to cause a severe loss in the dignity and respect of someone; words or actions intended to debase, lower, degrade, discredit or devalue a person.