Illustration: At a community table-tennis session, a tall adult faces a short older woman across the table with a smug half-smile, one hand still tucked into a pocket. Their loosely held paddle suggests they expect an effortless win.

なめる

nameru

to underestimate, to look down on

This use is casual and can sound confrontational. Note written by AI.

Example sentences

俺おれをなめるな。
Don’t make light of me.
Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · Source
山やまをなめてはいけない。でないと死しんじゃうよ。
Don’t underestimate the difficulty of mountaineering. If you do, you could die.
Wiktionary · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Source
最近さいきん、生徒せいとになめられてしまってるんじゃないかと思おもうんです。
I’m thinking that lately, maybe the students are making fun of me.
Tatoeba · CC BY 2.0 FR · Source

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