disdain
Americanverb (used with object)
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disdains,
present (3rd person singular)
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disdained,
past participle, past
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disdaining
present participle
noun
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
disdainsimple
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disdainssimple
-
have disdainedperfect
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has disdainedperfect
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am disdainingprogressive
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are disdainingprogressive
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is disdainingprogressive
-
have been disdainingperfect progressive
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has been disdainingperfect progressive
Past
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disdainedsimple
-
had disdainedperfect
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was disdainingprogressive
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were disdainingprogressive
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had been disdainingperfect progressive
Future
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
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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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:
Max Cady either validates the paranoia of upstanding men obsessed with protecting or dominating women, or the disdain felt by those whom such men look down upon.
From Salon ● Jul. 17, 2026
"There's a sort of disdain for things AI."
From Barron's ● Jul. 10, 2026
Still, Alcock reacts with exactly the right note of disdain: “Cool,” she croaks.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
Previously White has voiced his disdain at hosting events outdoors because of the "unpredictability" of the weather, while earlier this month he earmarked thunderstorms as the only threat to the show.
From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2026
He was looking with disdain at Ranofer’s thin shoulders and arms.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
The title character disdains the common folk, and the play’s complicated political discussion and harsh, jagged poetry aren’t what most picnicking playgoers are after.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026
With no action expected on rates on Wednesday, the attention will be on him: Will he submit a forecast for rate projections he disdains?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
Sandra Angelloz is another producer who disdains Reblochon's "garnish" status.
From Salon ● Dec. 13, 2022
Plot synopses of “Carmen” traditionally depicted a young man reduced to despair and driven to violence by the charms of a wild woman who works in a cigarette factory and disdains conventional morality.
From New York Times ● Nov. 9, 2022
Do you see how awful it is to be in love with someone who disdains you?
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Air conditioning, long disdained in France, is "no longer taboo at all", Jehanno said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
And though life off the mountain didn’t always go smoothly, he disdained regret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
Planning is for weaklings, rational analysis is disdained, the amygdala and the gut replace the cerebral cortex.
From Salon ● Mar. 14, 2026
He disdained the job—which instead went to Oscar Hammerstein II—of writing what would turn out to be the longest-running Broadway musical up to that time.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 16, 2025
This Wang Lung heard, although he disdained to answer, although her words smote him like a dagger thrust because he feared that he looked indeed what he was, a farmer.
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
Stutzman, who was widely quoted during the 2016 campaign disdaining the GOP front-runner, recalls spotting Bera that year at a French restaurant in downtown Sacramento.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 2, 2023
He was a true icon, prowling the world in search of glamour and beauty, disdaining “dreckitude.”
From New York Times ● Jan. 22, 2022
The British imposed additional penalties on the Americans, declaring them traitors, disdaining their petitions, subjecting their merchant ships to confiscation and hiring German mercenaries.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 18, 2021
But it also failed to fully convey Kaufman’s pioneering style of offbeat comedy or the reasons for his disdaining success at every turn.
From Washington Times ● Apr. 14, 2018
Beyond its battered frame the black-barked trees grew straight to the heavens, disdaining the forest floor, where tangled heather and brush hid the path leading from this lonely spot.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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.
