disdain
Americanverb (used with object)
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disdains,
present (3rd person singular)
-
disdained,
past participle, past
-
disdaining
present participle
noun
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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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
-
is disdainingprogressive
-
have been disdainingperfect progressive
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has been disdainingperfect progressive
Past
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disdainedsimple
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had disdainedperfect
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was disdainingprogressive
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were disdainingprogressive
-
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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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:
But if you talk to the candidates, you’ll find something striking: confidence, and a decent amount of disdain for the doubters.
From Slate ● Nov. 13, 2026
“What we got out of the election was quantifiable evidence that there is real disdain for the data-center build-out,” said Matt Rowe, senior portfolio manager at Man Group.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 6, 2026
But his move to America in 1987 was initially greeted with disdain by the Los Angeles Times, who wrote him off as an "unknown British Shakespearean actor."
From Barron's ● Oct. 29, 2026
"You can not continue to engage with someone who is so blatant in her disregard and disdain for a large section of this community," she said.
From BBC ● Oct. 11, 2026
Temple was a man of noble family, who treated the upstart Wotton with barely concealed disdain.
From "The Invention of Science" by David Wootton
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
The former Fox News personality, who served as an Army National Guard infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, disdains rules of engagement and other guardrails as constraining to the “warrior ethos.”
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
The trouble is, if you don’t care about what you do, if part of you disdains what you do, your only concern is what the work gets you.
From Washington Post ● Nov. 29, 2022
She makes fun of things she disdains, uplifts that which she reveres and even points out her own shortcomings, as comics are wont to do.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 10, 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
Speaking to Slate, Sand insisted he disdained the party system despite the fact that he not only was a two-time statewide elected official as a Democrat but had worked on Democratic campaigns in his youth.
From Slate ● Oct. 26, 2026
These same dons disdained Britain’s provincial universities—known pejoratively as Redbrick—as well as academics in the U.S., whom they scorned for going about their business with “woefully unnecessary seriousness.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 30, 2026
Air conditioning, long disdained in France, is "no longer taboo at all", Jehanno said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
But the nearer Manzo was to the center of traditional politics, the more he disdained them.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 18, 2026
In both his dress and his manner, he disdained all festivity.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Elon Musk, best known for disdaining fossil fuels and selling close to 10 million electric vehicles, is actively advocating natural-gas turbines for data centers and chip factories.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 23, 2026
Others, disdaining the election, said they had skipped voting altogether.
From New York Times ● Dec. 12, 2023
“I’m not incredibly interested in what he has to say about anything,” Rogen says, disdaining how little Gauthier considered the effects of his actions, especially on Anderson.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 9, 2022
He has few friends in politics, having flaunted his purity through the muddy streets of government for decades, disdaining all who compromise.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2020
But I grew angry at the thought of the three men disdaining Cristiana.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
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Get a wordDefinitions 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.
