put-down en · NOUN
Pronunciation
- /ˈpʊtˌdaʊn/
Etymology
Deverbal from put down.
Meanings
-
(idiomatic) An insult or barb; a snide or demeaning remark.
When he called you a know-it-all, he meant it as a put-down.
But it’s not [Pam] Bondi’s script that matters most. It’s her voice, and the attorney general got the tone of it — the poison in it — just right when she spat those put-downs at those men during her, um, testimony before a House panel last week.
2026 February 16, Frank Bruni, “Pam Bondi and the MAGA Brand of Insult Politics”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, archived from the original on 16 Feb 2026:
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| putdown | alternative | lexicographic | |
| put-downs | Number=Plur | lexicographic |
Synonyms
Translations (10)
ru нае́зд (insult or barb) · mi tīkai (insult or barb) · ru колкость (insult or barb) · de Herabsetzung (insult or barb) · pl obelga (insult or barb) · de Erniedrigung (insult or barb) · pl afront (insult or barb) · he יְרִידָה (insult or barb) · mi himumaru (insult or barb) · ru шпи́лька (insult or barb)