look down on

To think someone or something is less good or less important than you.

• Do not look down on others.
• She looked down on his simple clothes.
• Why do some people look down on manual work?

How to use it: look down on someone/something (They look down on people with less money.)

Similar words: despise, scorn

Opposites: respect, admire

Common phrases: look down on someone, look down on something

To see someone or something from a higher place.

• We look down on the garden.
• She looked down on the street from her balcony.
• Can you look down on the valley from here?

How to use it: look down on something from somewhere (We looked down on the town from the hill.)

Similar words: view from above

Common phrases: look down on something, look down on someone

For someone who has died, to watch people or events on earth from heaven.

• Grandma is looking down on us.
• He believed his father looked down on him from heaven.
• Would she smile if she could look down on us now?

How to use it: look down on someone from heaven (We believe Grandpa looks down on us from heaven.)

Similar words: watch over

Common phrases: look down on someone, look down on us