noun
verb
Related Words
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of disdain
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English disdainen, from Anglo-French de(s)deigner, equivalent to dis- 1 + deign; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
If you feel that something isn't worthy of your consideration, you may disdain it (or treat it with disdain). In Old French, deignier meant "to treat something as worthy." To disdain something, then, is to treat it with contempt: "Management at [the company] displayed a certain disdain for safety and appeared to regard safety-conscious workers as wimps in the organization." As a verb, disdain carries an air of self-righteousness not associated with similar words like despise, abhor, detest, loathe and scorn. So if you disdain something, you might reject it with a haughty scoff, "Ha!"
Vocabulary lists containing disdain
100 Words Every Middle Schooler Should Know
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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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.
Disdain for the new requirements is not universal; Matrix, a nonprofit organization working to build an open-source standard for encrypted communication, published a blog post Friday explaining some possible technical paths forward.
From The Verge • Mar. 29, 2022
Disdain appears to be the consensus view from the pundits.
From The Guardian • Aug. 1, 2020
Disdain is barely hidden beneath the sweetness, like the smirk you might wear when you tell someone, “Bless your heart.”
From Slate • Apr. 23, 2019
Disdain for country music is as old as the genre itself, and appropriately, mainstream critics have disliked Bryan from the beginning and have tended to treat him with some combination of amusement and animosity.
From New York Times • Dec. 6, 2017
Disdain and dislike are in the atmosphere, and never more than when the rain of silver is at its richest.
From Spanish Highways and Byways by Bates, Katharine Lee
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.
