de haut en bas

English

Etymology

Borrowed from French de haut en bas (“from on high to low”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dəˌ(h)əʊtɒnˈba/

Adverb

de haut en bas (not comparable)

1. With condescension; superciliously. Also used attributively.
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 4, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

     The landlady looked at him de haut en bas, rather pitying, and at the same time, resenting his clear, fierce morality.

   • 2016 April, Stoddard Martin, Literary Review, page 19:

     Thomas initially took a de haut en bas attitude to Nazism, expecting it to be a flash in the pan.

Translations

with condescension

• Russian: свысока́ (ru) (svysoká)

References

• E. Cobham Brewer. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898

French

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /də o.t‿ɑ̃ ba/, /də o.t‿ɑ̃ bɑ/

• France (Lyon)

  (file)

Adverb

de haut en bas

1. downwards

   Antonym: de bas en haut

2. from top to bottom, thoroughly

See also

• de la tête aux pieds
• de fond en comble