a remark or act intended to humiliate or embarrass someone.
Also, putdown.
Origin
1960-65; noun use of verb phrase put down
Examples from the web for put-down
Not helpful, to me, is the sarcasm and put-down language.
British Dictionary definitions for put-down
put down
verb (transitive, adverb)
1.
to make a written record of
2.
to repress: to put down a rebellion
3.
to consider; account: they put him down for an ignoramus
4.
to attribute: I put the mistake down to his inexperience
5.
to put to death, because of old age or illness: the vet put the cat down
6.
to table on the agenda: the MPs put down a motion on the increase in crime
7.
to put (a baby) to bed
8.
to dismiss, reject, or humiliate
noun
9.
a cruelly crushing remark
Word Origin and History for put-down
n.
"insult, snub," 1962, from verbal phrase put down "to snub," attested from c.1400; see put (v.) + down (adv.).
Slang definitions & phrases for put-down
put-down
noun
Something disparaging, humiliating, or deflating; a reducing insult; knock: since it is such a neat put-down of the arrogant administrator(late 1950s+)