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HOW TO PRONOUNCE

patronize

/ˈpeɪtɹəˌnaɪz/

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American Pronunciation Guide · 0:55
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What does patronize mean?

verb

  1. To act as a patron of; to defend, protect, or support.
  2. To be a customer of (an establishment), especially a regular customer.
  3. To treat condescendingly; to talk down to.
More meanings (1)

verb

  1. (obsolete) To blame, to reproach.

Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0

IPA pronunciation

/ˈpeɪtɹəˌnaɪz/

Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0

Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.

In the pages of books

See this word in context.

Ferdinand did not blush to patronize this act of treachery against his father's most trusty ally.
Friedrich SchillerThe History of the Thirty Years' WarTranslated by A. J. W. (Alexander James William) MorrisonProject Gutenberg ebook #566
But, fair or not fair, there are unbecoming conjunctions, which reason will patronize in vain—which taste cannot tolerate—which ridicule will seize.
Jane AustenPersuasionProject Gutenberg ebook #105
More book examples (3)
It is only within the last month or two that that society passed a resolution to patronize nothing but steel pens.
Herman MelvilleMoby Dick; Or, The WhaleProject Gutenberg ebook #2701
The eloquent auctioneer was seized with pneumonia, and having been a patient of Mr. Peacock’s, sent for Lydgate, whom he had expressed his intention to patronize.
George EliotMiddlemarchProject Gutenberg ebook #145
But I had promised the poet to patronize his house, and had by mistake ordered and despatched a pint and chop in a house which was not the poet’s.
George BorrowWild Wales: Its People, Language and SceneryProject Gutenberg ebook #648