“What would you know about it?”

Belittling

Belittling is a repeated pattern of treating someone as less intelligent, capable or worthy of being taken seriously instead of responding to what they said or did.

Your standing to object or contribute drops before your point is considered. The issue can be dismissed by reducing the person who raised it.

You may second-guess what you know, defer decisions, overexplain your experience or stop sharing ideas that may be dismissed. Proving that you are competent can begin replacing the point you wanted to make.

Disagreement, correction and recognizing a real skill difference are not belittling. The distinction is whether the point is answered and respect remains—or whether the person is repeatedly reduced so their contribution no longer has to count.

You do not need to decide what it is. You can note the date and what happened, and read it back later.

One moment rarely tells the whole story. Look at what repeats over time—and what happens when harm, disagreement or a boundary is named.