despise
Americanverb (used with object)
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despises,
present (3rd person singular)
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despised,
past participle, past
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despising
present participle
verb
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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despisablenessnoun
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despisernoun
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despisableadjective
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undespisedadjective
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undespisingadjective
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despisinglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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despisesimple
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despisessimple
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have despisedperfect
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has despisedperfect
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am despisingprogressive
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are despisingprogressive
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is despisingprogressive
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have been despisingperfect progressive
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has been despisingperfect progressive
Past
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despisedsimple
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had despisedperfect
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was despisingprogressive
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were despisingprogressive
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had been despisingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of despise
First recorded in 1250–1300; Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere; see despicable
Explanation
If the mere thought of a burrito with sour cream in it turns your stomach, you could say that you despise sour cream. You loathe it, abhor it, hate it, and think it's vile. Despise dates all the way back to the Latin word despicare, which combines de "down" with specere "to look at." So if you look down your nose at something, you could say you despise it. Nowadays the word gets used a lot to describe things people really, really dislike, too. Note how similar in meaning and spelling despise is to Sylvester the cartoon cat's old favorite catchphrase despicable. Despicable means something worth of being despised.
Vocabulary lists containing despise
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee, Chapters 16–19
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Bridge to Terabithia
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Bronx Masquerade
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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:
Cheer him, mock him or despise him; he’ll be here all week, so try the veal.
From Salon ● Aug. 7, 2026
Co-signers include the Open Markets Institute, an anti-monopoly advocacy and research group in Washington that tends to despise Big Tech, and the Writer’s Guild.
From MarketWatch ● Jul. 14, 2026
But it has also triggered an unexpected wave of nostalgia, with some Delhi residents expressing affection for a place they often claimed to despise.
From BBC ● May 25, 2026
“It’s impossible. . . . If I do that, my kids, my grandkids would despise me. My wife will despise me.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 13, 2026
The reply visibly hurt his feelings, and this, in turn, caused me to despise him.
From "The Fire Next Time" by James Baldwin
To deal with others, he has sent Karoline Leavitt, his pep secretary, into the Brady Briefing Room to handle the reporters he despises.
From Salon ● Jun. 12, 2026
There is something else Friedman despises: finishing second.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 19, 2026
But Donio isn’t giving up his 2020 Audi A4, which he enjoys despite it having the feature he despises.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Cicero, who despises Catalina for his reckless idealism, is one of many characters trying to bring the architect to heel.
From New York Times ● May 16, 2024
He thinks I will be here, but I will be working against him, working with the father he despises.
From "Insurgent" by Veronica Roth
Bogle almost certainly would’ve despised cryptocurrency ETFs as speculative instruments that produce no cash flow.
From Barron's ● Mar. 25, 2026
Over the next few days, I did what any rational woman falling for a man with a cat she despised would do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 13, 2026
They are notorious goons, despised virtually everywhere for their ability to agitate, aggrieve and annoy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 14, 2026
Part of Lord Mandelson's mystique - and one of the reasons why he is despised by some in the Labour movement - is his love of political intrigue, gossip and plots.
From BBC ● Feb. 3, 2026
Contemporary European rulers also included some who despised guns and tried to restrict their availability.
From "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies" by Jared M. Diamond
Haney reminded jurors that despising the rich isn’t a crime, much less an abnormal opinion.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
He is described as a man who had “poked his chin up sideways, carrying his nose with that aforesaid appearance of ‘sniff,’ as though despising an egg which he knew he could not digest.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 3, 2026
Society is depicted as "worshiping only power and money, despising art, sensitivity, tenderness, where people ...don't talk anymore."
From Barron's ● Apr. 3, 2026
"It's astonishing how people can put so much vitriol and energy into despising someone. It's extraordinarily damaging," she says of the most bitter sibling rivalry.
From BBC ● Feb. 10, 2024
When his father told him about Ruth, he joined him in despising her, but he felt put upon; felt as though some burden had been given to him and that he didn’t deserve it.
From "Song of Solomon" by Toni Morrison
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.
