disdainful
Americanadjective
adjective
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Etymology
Origin of disdainful
Explanation
Disdainful means scornful and arrogant. To be disdainful is to act mean and superior. If you're acting haughty, imperious, lordly, overbearing, prideful, sniffy, supercilious, or swaggering, you're acting disdainful. The great Michael Jordan was known to be disdainful of his opponents — and even teammates who couldn't keep up with him. Arrogant people with their nose in the air are disdainful. This can also have an even harsher sense, meaning contemptuous. Either way, that person who gave you the disdainful look doesn’t like you (or at least something you did) very much.
Vocabulary lists containing disdainful
ACT Reading Test: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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A Midsummer Night's Dream
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Stargirl
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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.
They also told me he could turn on a dime and become reclusive or even disdainful of dinner guests.
From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 20, 2026
Ruffin counters before delivering the death blow with a wink and faintly disdainful sneer: “That’s journalism.”
From Salon • Apr. 2, 2025
Following England regularly is to know captain Ben Stokes is disdainful about the idea of being "ruthless".
From BBC • Dec. 15, 2024
This time he is not just a disdainful bystander but one of the targets of the discontent, challenging him to navigate the treacherous waters of campus politics better than Lyndon B. Johnson did in 1968.
From New York Times • Apr. 30, 2024
Despite the colonel’s disdainful attitude, the cells were soon painted and fumigated and we were supplied with fresh blankets and sanitary pails.
From "Long Walk to Freedom" by Nelson Mandela
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.
