condescension

noun

1. (uncountable, usually)The act of condescending; a manner of behaving in an outwardly polite way that nevertheless implies superiority to another; patronizing courtesy toward inferiors.

   “Conscious condescension breeds panderers and enemies, not friends.”

   “Mrs. Howard's fête at Marble Hill more than realised all expectations. The very spring put itself forward to please her; or, rather borrowed a day from summer. The king and queen were in the last extremities of royal condescension. It was enough to make domestic felicity the fashion from one end of the British empire to the other, just to see the august couple walking arm in arm through the gardens;...”

   “There comes an end to all things; the most capacious measure is filled at last; and this brief condescension to my evil finally destroyed the balance of my soul. And yet I was not alarmed; the fall seemed natural, like a return to the old days before I had made my discovery.”

   “"Unfortunate situation," she replied, making an effort to moderate her superciliousness to mere condescension."”

   “"Huh?" he said. "Pardon me, my dear sir," repeated the Major, blandly, smoothly, and with an air of – well, not condescension, but gracious familiarity.”

2. (derogatory, uncountable, usually)A patronizing attitude or behavior.

   “He's a snob of the first water and views the lower orders with infinite condescension.”

   “Tommy rarely entered the top social stratum where Tyckman moved by right of wealth and ancestry, but he had found the man pleasant and without condescension.”

   “Jabez rides through the fields on his sleek new horse, watching his neighbors harvest his crops. He shows a certain condescension toward them which is akin to arrogance.”

   “He was self-conscious about the brace and wore a jacket even on the hottest days. It held him abnormally erect. His face was tight from the discomfort and frustration. His posture was mistaken for a sign of arrogance, his expression for disdain and condescension.”

   “What if the signals are confused and both the doctrines of respect for and condescension towards other moralities is preached?”

3. (archaic, uncountable, usually)Courtesy, affability of a superior towards an inferior.