contemptuous
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of contemptuous
First recorded in 1520–30; from Latin contemptu-, stem of contemptus “a slighting” ( see contempt) + -ous
Explanation
If you insult someone or dismiss them in a hateful way, you're being contemptuous. The difference between being hateful and contemptuous is subtle. It involves disdain. Being contemptuous of someone or something means that you're combining a deep dislike for them with condescension. To insult someone is a good way of showing contempt, i.e., of being contemptuous. "You disgust me," is one of the simplest and most contemptuous things you can say to someone. "You're stupid," is another. If you can think of something that both hurts a person and suggests that you're looking down on them, you've come up with a contemptuous thing to say.
Vocabulary lists containing contemptuous
To Kill a Mockingbird
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Grade 10, List 2
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The Pearl
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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.
Contemptuous of tradition and lineage, massively successful despite not having been educated in the finishing schools of Fleming’s youth, McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison and Ringo Starr brushed off British propriety as a relic.
From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 7, 2023
Contemptuous of his bandmates and ashamed of the music they made, Lanegan lurched from one disaster to the next.
From Washington Post • May 24, 2020
Contemptuous of professional political parties, which he derided for releasing “the citizen from all forms of concrete and personal responsibility,” Havel dreamed of an “informed, non-bureaucratic, dynamic, and open communities that comprise the ‘parallel polis.’ ”
From The New Yorker • Feb. 8, 2017
Contemptuous A contemptuous response to “Shall we ask for directions?” would be “We wouldn’t need to if you could just read the map.”
From Time • Mar. 2, 2015
Contemptuous of Oppenheimer’s arguments against the Super, he depicted Oppenheimer as a Svengali ruthlessly hypnotizing some of the world’s most sophisticated scientists into joining his opposition campaign.
From "Big Science" by Michael Hiltzik
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.
