Meanings
plural put-downs · alternative putdown
- idiomaticAn insult or barb; a snide or demeaning remark.
When he called you a know-it-all, he meant it as a put-down.
1 more example
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 2026Synonyms: burn
Synonyms & antonyms
nounAn insult or barb; a snide or demeaning remark.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
Deverbal from put down.
Full word history & related roots →Translations
German Erniedrigung, Herabsetzung
- Erniedrigunginsult or barb
- Herabsetzunginsult or barb
Hebrew יְרִידָה
- יְרִידָה (y'ridá)insult or barb
Māori tīkai, himumaru
- tīkaiinsult or barb
- himumaruinsult or barb
Polish afront, obelga
- afrontinsult or barb
- obelgainsult or barb
Russian нае́зд, колкость
- нае́зд (najézd)insult or barb
- колкость (kolkostʹ)insult or barb
- шпи́лька (špílʹka)insult or barb
Cite this entry
put-down. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put-down
“put-down.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put-down. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “put-down,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/put-down.
Source: put-down on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.