Demeaning describes a thing — a joke, a job, a rule, a look — that treats someone as less than they deserve. It shows too little respect, or it makes the person feel small, silly, or ashamed. A demeaning comment is not only rude; it pushes the person down. People also call work demeaning when the work itself seems to say “you are not worth much,” even if nobody shouted. It is the everyday adjective from the verb demean. You will hear it at work, in the news, and when people talk about fairness: “That is demeaning.” It is stronger than “not nice.” It can describe how something feels to the person on the receiving end, not only what the speaker meant.