scorn

[skawrn]

noun

1. open or unqualified contempt; disdain.

   His face and attitude showed the scorn he felt.

   Synonyms: contumely

2. an object of derision or contempt.

3. a derisive or contemptuous action or speech.

   Antonyms: praise

verb (used with object)

1. to treat or regard with contempt or disdain.

   They scorned the old beggar.

   Synonyms: detest, despise, contemn, disdain

2. to reject, refuse, or ignore with contempt or disdain.

   She scorned my help.

verb (used without object)

1. to mock; jeer.

scorn

/ skɔːn /

noun

1. open contempt or disdain for a person or thing; derision

2. an object of contempt or derision

3. archaic,  an act or expression signifying contempt

verb

1. to treat with contempt or derision

2. (tr) to reject with contempt

Other Word Forms

• scorner noun
• scorningly adverb
• outscorn verb (used with object)
• self-scorn noun
• scornfully adverb
• scornfulness noun
• scornful adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of scorn¹

First recorded in 1150–1200; (noun) Middle English scorn, scarn, from Old French escarn, from Germanic (compare obsolete Dutch schern “mockery, trickery”); (verb) Middle English skarnen, sc(h)ornen, from Old French escharnir, eschernir, ultimately from Germanic

Word History and Origins

Origin of scorn¹

C12 schornen, from Old French escharnir, of Germanic origin; compare Old High German scerōn to behave rowdily, obsolete Dutch schern mockery

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. laugh to scorn, to ridicule; deride.

   Many of his sophisticated listeners laughed him to scorn.

Synonym Study

See contempt.

Example Sentences

However, he has scorned the description of Opendoor as a meme stock, describing it instead as a “cult stock.”

Read more on MarketWatch

If elected, he would be the city's first Muslim mayor and far-right Republicans have scorned a video he issued in Arabic to supporters in the famously diverse city.

Read more on Barron's

In any case, simply pulling up the drawbridge, hoisting the “independence” flag, and pouring boiling scorn on the barbarians at the gate isn’t a viable response.

Read more on The Wall Street Journal

She’s a former Tri-Delt from the University of Florida, but she can’t meet the minimum standards of Southern lady scorn to match that pedigree.

Read more on Salon

"To my father's disappointment, I was a soft and sensitive kid. The neighbourhood gang of kids bullied me, and my father and adult brother scorned me for not fighting back," he remembers.

Read more on BBC

Related Words

• abhor 
• defy 
• deride 
• despise 
• disdain 
• disregard 
• flout 
• hate 
• ignore 
• mock 
• refute 
• reject 
• repudiate 
• ridicule 
• shun 
• spurn 
• taunt