look down one's nose
Proposed by a contributor, not yet supported by evidence.
Meaning · English
To regard someone or something with contempt or superiority
Nghĩa · Tiếng Việt
coi người hoặc thứ gì đó với khinh thường hoặc sự cao cả
Machine-translated — suggest a fix
Literally: to physically look down one's nose
Where it’s used:
Used
Widespread English
Examples
She looks down her nose at people who don't have college degrees
AI-drafted example auto-approved by rule (illustrative, not a corpus attestation)
Sources & notes
Listed in Wiktionary’s “English idioms” category (retrieved 2026-07-29); definition pending editorial review. Definition drafted by AI (@cf/meta/llama-3.3-70b-instruct-fp8-fast) and auto-approved by rule on 2026-07-31; pending editor spot-check.
Common questions
What does “look down one's nose” mean?
To regard someone or something with contempt or superiority Literally: to physically look down one's nose
Is “look down one's nose” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.