damn with faint praise

verb

Etymology

From a poem by Alexander Pope.

Definitions

  1. To provide praise that is minimal or inconsequential, implying that such praise is the…

    To provide praise that is minimal or inconsequential, implying that such praise is the best that could be said.

    • Damn with faint praise, assent with civil leer, And without sneering teach the rest to sneer.
    • The patronizing manner in which the hero of Nashville is damned with faint praise would amuse were it not so exasperating.
    • Four of them returned it with a cold, printed note of rejection; one of them “damned with faint praise.” They wrote that “Our readers report that they find some merit in your story, but not enough to warrant its acceptance.”

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for damn with faint praise. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA