contumely
Americannoun
-
scornful or insulting language or behaviour
-
a humiliating or scornful insult
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of contumely
1350–1400; Middle English contumelie (< Anglo-French ) < Latin contumēlia, perhaps akin to contumāx ( see contumacy), though formation and sense development are unclear
Explanation
Contumely is an old-fashioned term that means "nasty, insulting speech," like the contumely heaped on the opposing team by a home team's fans. Don't be led astray by that -ly ending: contumely is a noun, not an adverb. Use contumely when you need an impressive (if obscure) way to say "contemptuous language" or "offensive behavior." You might stop a bully in his tracks by shouting, "I don't have to put up with this contumely!" Experts believe this word comes from the Latin contumax, "haughty or insolent."
Vocabulary lists containing contumely
The Scarlet Letter
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The Tragedy of Hamlet, Prince of Denmark
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Frankenstein
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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.
See Examples For:
Christie managed to be almost cuddly while dispatching this contumely.
From New York Times ● Jan. 28, 2019
The choice brought more contumely from fans, who had never heard of him, or feared another Andrea Bargnani, a fragile product of European ball.
From The New Yorker ● Feb. 3, 2016
The white-haired “out” socialist delivered, heaping contumely on the billionaires and hedge fund managers in a Brooklyn baritone accent that, if you shut your eyes, sounded like Larry David.
From Newsweek ● Apr. 8, 2015
That contumely registered exactly 0% with the movie’s core constituency: the ladies.
From Time ● Nov. 20, 2011
Each day, Bull poured torrents of contumely on his morning paper.
From "The Great Santini" by Pat Conroy
The pedlers find satisfaction for all contumelies in making good bargains out of their customers.
From Passages from the American Notebooks, Volume 1 by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Yet such a war, under such circumstances, was denounced as unnecessary and unjust, though for no better reason than because greater contumelies had been endured at the hands of France.
From Life and Public Services of John Quincy Adams Sixth President of the Unied States by William Henry Seward
Wherefore take him for thy patron: 10 and patiently suffer the contumelies which the infidels utter against thee; and depart from them with a decent departure.
From The Koran (Al-Qur'an) by George Sale
So faithfully preserves thou each small favor, And hast no memory for contumelies?
From The German Classics of the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries, Volume 03 Masterpieces of German Literature Translated into English. in Twenty Volumes by Kuno Francke
—Others there are, Whom envy to the state draws and pulls on, For contumelies received; and such are sure ones.
From The works of John Dryden, now first collected in eighteen volumes. Volume 04 by Sir Walter Scott
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.
