: to condescend reluctantly and with a strong sense of the affront to one’s superiority that is involved : stoop would not even deign to talk to him One iconoclastic architect, for example, doesn’t deign to speak of bathrooms.—

I can’t afford to wait around until you deign to answer me. He did not even deign to look at her. I think he might even deign to stay with me. The mayor’s hubris wouldn’t allow him to deign to reply to letters from the people.