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
Of course there is no harm in that, Especially As you get the ha'pennies, And far be it from me To contemn you for it.
From Outlook Odes by Crosland, T. W. H. (Thomas William Hodgson)
Surely all this was enough to make one despair and contemn the whole idea of intercourse with spirits… But Jessie suddenly became aware of a basic illogicality in her position.
From Across the Stream by Benson, Edward Frederic
Still, Americans should feel a pang in acknowledging that even in the dark article of slave laws they are surpassed by a nation which they contemn.
From A Trip to Cuba by Howe, Julia Ward
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)
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.
