contemn
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived 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
No doubt it is both ignorant and stupid to contemn what you cannot understand.
From The Maid of Honour, Vol. 1 (of 3) A Tale of the Dark Days of France by Wingfield, Lewis
His Good Word for Everybody Indeed, he has a good word for everybody, and discerns laudable qualities in some whom the world has agreed to contemn and cast out.
From Literary Shrines The Haunts of Some Famous American Authors by Wolfe, Theodore F. (Theodore Frelinghuysen)
I would fain have persuaded him that it was a wild scheme; but he was a soldier, gentlemen, and accustomed to contemn all dangers.
From The Gipsy (Vols I & II) A Tale by James, G. P. R. (George Payne Rainsford)
The enemy will most certainly be put to flight if thou wilt thus contemn both him and his suggestions.
From On Union with God by Berthier, P. J.
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.
