contemn
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contemn
1375–1425; late Middle English contempnen (< Middle French ) < Latin contemnere to despise, scorn, equivalent to con- con- + temnere to slight; see contempt
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
"Did not William Blake contemn reason and paint the ghost of a flea?"
From Time Magazine Archive
Speaking contemptuously of him, I but contemn nothing.
From Satires And Profanities by Foote, G. W. (George William)
What right," she asked herself, "has this man to undervalue and contemn my purpose?
From The Adventures of a Widow A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar
It was the sort of thing that in ordinary dealing we denounce and even contemn, as the effort of unsolicited pretension to thrust itself against barred gates with immodest vigor.
From An Ambitious Woman A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar
Fear not, dear Major Frankfort; you may pity me as unfortunate, and contemn me as weak, but you will not have occasion to condemn.
From Jasper Lyle by Ward, Harriet
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
