de haut en bas

Borrowed from French de haut en bas (“from on high to low”).

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dəˌ(h)əʊtɒnˈba/

de haut en bas (not comparable)

1. With condescension; superciliously. Also used attributively.
   • 1913, D[avid] H[erbert] Lawrence, chapter 4, in Sons and Lovers, London: Duckworth & Co. […], →OCLC:

     The landlady looked at him de haut en bas, rather pitying, and at the same time, resenting his clear, fierce morality.

   • 2016 April, Stoddard Martin, Literary Review, page 19:

     Thomas initially took a de haut en bas attitude to Nazism, expecting it to be a flash in the pan.

• E. Cobham Brewer. Dictionary of Phrase and Fable. 1898

• IPA^(key): /də o.t‿ɑ̃ ba/ ~ /də o.t‿ɑ̃ bɑ/

• Audio (Lyon):

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de haut en bas

1. downwards

   Antonym: de bas en haut

2. from top to bottom, thoroughly

• de la tête aux pieds
• de fond en comble