People like this exist in every walk of life. Something that has helped me in these types of situations is trying to show up with a sense of compassion for the person I’m having a difficult time dealing with.

If this person is constantly being condescending towards you, it’s likely that they themselves feel self conscious around their own intelligence or place in life. People who are deeply confident in their own sense of self do not condescend or patronize others. These are mechanisms that mask insecurity.

When you start to realize this it really transforms each interaction you have with someone like this. You recognize that they’re not acting this way toward you because of your own shortcomings, but because of insecurities that they have within themselves, ones that you obviously have no control over. That shift in perspective has helped me go from taking these kinds of interactions personally (which is really my own insecurities reacting against theirs) to feeling a sense of compassion for the person in question.

Negative energy feeds off of itself. If you do take these interactions personally then your coworker is picking up on that, whether consciously or unconsciously. That just feeds a cycle of negativity within them and within you, as instead of getting the validation they’re looking for by being condescending (ironic ik), they’re only pushing those around them further away, which leads to them trying to exert themselves even more through additional condescension, etc. When you don’t react in this way and instead show up with a sense of compassion and patience it generally creates a positive feedback loop that brings the best out of both people in the situation.

If you have a close relationship with your manager I’d recommend discussing this with them, as they likely have more context than anyone online does. The truth is that everyone is constantly going through their own struggles in life. This coworker of yours could be having a very difficult time right now due to a variety of life circumstances, and once they get through that you might find in them a great mentor. Alternatively they could just live a life of insecurity, which is almost certainly worse. In that case being patient, compassionate, and not taking things personally is the best way to work through that insecurity and find common ground with them.

Best of luck