deign

Related to deign: yearn

deign to (do something)

To condescend to do something; to do something that one considers below one's status. Now that Billy's famous, I doubt he'll deign to call his own mother.
See also: deign
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.

deign to do something

to lower oneself to do something. She will never deign to join in with us. I expect that he will not deign to have dinner with us.
See also: deign
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
See also:
  • (one) could use (something)
  • (I) wouldn't (do something) if I were you
  • a/the feel of (something)
  • all right
  • a straw will show which way the wind blows
  • a crack at (someone or something)
  • (you) wanna make something of it?
  • (one) never would have guessed
  • all for the best
  • a thing of the past
References in periodicals archive
Deign had been found too formal, please too informal.
The search for catholicity in English
Apart from anything else, it's sheer greed, given their gold-bottomed pensions - Dannatt picked up a lump sum of PS260,000 plus PS80k a year - not to mention the PS400 they can pocket every day they deign to grace the House of Lords with their esteemed presence.
Chiefs all at sea in recession
I sincerely hope the courts take this into account and do not deign to waste any more public time and money on this "case", and that the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds concentrate their efforts on matters with more sinister intent than Mr Railton's unfortunate mistake.
Don't waste time on birds' eggs case; VOICE OF THE NORTH
Margaret O'Leary also began her career as a trainee reporter for Celtic Newspapers before being appointed news sub-editor for the Echo in 1988 and is now a senior deign sub-editor at the paper.
Rewarded for service
Jesse can also find fault with the few things she does deign to eat.
When revenge is a dish best served minty; DIARY OF A SINGLE MUM
And when he did deign to show up, he wasn't much use as a student.
KOREA TYRANT WAS BAD 'UN AT SCHOOL
Surely they do not deign to travel in petrol cars or on diesel buses?
Climate change could be natural; VOICE OF THE NORTH
Sir - i was flattered that someone as exalted as Dr Robyn Lewis should deign to reply to my abysmally ignorant letter.
You cannot force people to use Welsh
And the Cullompton trainer believes he may have another fair runner as the game La Vie Est Belle held off Deign To Dance in a tight finish.
Millman keeping the faith
There was no sign of his pregnant former girlfriend Liz Hurley, who'd of course never deign to step foot into anywhere as humble as the Anglesea Arms.
24/7: Unhappy Hugh Year
But when Namaan came, Elisha would not deign even to go out to see him; only a demeaning message came back: "Go and wash seven times in the Jordan ...
The prophet Elisha
To be honest, the writing improves when the gals deign to "stoop" just a little.
Between Friends: The Correspondence of Hannah Arendt and Mary McCarthy, 1949-1975
It is beyond belief that he has resorted to using the columns of The Journal- and for ncjMedia to deign to give him the benefit of the column inches - to tell the world that he's lost the contents of his email boxes ("Please send important emails again", Voice of the North, November 15).
Letter: Voice of the North - Councillor criticised over emails appeal
The desk fans, featuring a translucent blade with a metal guard and a square base deign, come in three sizes of blades - 9in (pounds 19.99), 12in (pounds 24.99) and 16in (pounds 29.99).
Summer tools
That is assuming they deign to speak to you at all before they switch to the automated message.
Carole Malone column: BT, your number's finally up