contempt
Americannoun
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the feeling with which a person regards anything considered mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.
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the state of being despised; dishonor; disgrace.
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Law.
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willful disobedience to or open disrespect for the rules or orders of a court contempt of court or legislative body.
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an act showing such disrespect.
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noun
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the attitude or feeling of a person towards a person or thing that he considers worthless or despicable; scorn
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the state of being scorned; disgrace (esp in the phrase hold in contempt )
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wilful disregard of or disrespect for the authority of a court of law or legislative body
contempt of court
Related Words
contempt , disdain , scorn imply strong feelings of disapproval and aversion toward what seems base, mean, or worthless. contempt is disapproval tinged with disgust: to feel contempt for a weakling . disdain is a feeling that a person or thing is beneath one's dignity and unworthy of one's notice, respect, or concern: a disdain for crooked dealing . scorn denotes open or undisguised contempt often combined with derision: He showed only scorn for those who were not as ambitious as himself.
Other Word Forms
- self-contempt noun
Etymology
Origin of contempt
First recorded in 1350–1400; Middle English, from Anglo-French, from Latin contemptus “despising, scorn,” noun derivative of contemnere “to despise, scorn”; contemn
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.
He looks with darting curiosity and unmistakable contempt at the world around him, but that world is reflected on his face: Its neon signage and passing car lights dance on his eyeballs.
One prosecutor, Julie Le, told a judge that the system was so broken she sometimes wished to be held in contempt just to get a full night’s sleep.
From Salon
Schiltz had ordered ICE chief Todd Lyons to appear in court Friday and threatened to hold him in contempt unless the Ecuadorean was freed.
He turns as I enter, taking in my windblown hair and muddy trousers and shaking his head with contempt.
From Literature
He watched, his contempt spilling over, calculating whether I was worth competing for.
From Los Angeles Times
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.
