scorn
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
verb (used without object)
idioms
noun
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open contempt or disdain for a person or thing; derision
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an object of contempt or derision
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archaic an act or expression signifying contempt
verb
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to treat with contempt or derision
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(tr) to reject with contempt
Synonym Usage
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
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scornernoun
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scornfulnessnoun
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self-scornnoun
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scornfuladjective
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scornfullyadverb
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scorninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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scornsimple
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scornssimple
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have scornedperfect
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has scornedperfect
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am scorningprogressive
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are scorningprogressive
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is scorningprogressive
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have been scorningperfect progressive
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has been scorningperfect progressive
Past
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scornedsimple
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had scornedperfect
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was scorningprogressive
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were scorningprogressive
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had been scorningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of scorn
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
Explanation
Scorn is open disrespect for someone or something. It can also be disrespect coupled with feelings of intense dislike. The noun scorn describes your feelings of disdain when you encounter something you view as worthless or inferior — like, for instance, a talk show that gets all its facts wrong. Use the verb form for those times when you’re actively expressing scorn. You might scorn a politician who spends $100,000 on travel while claiming to work hard promoting middle-class values.
Vocabulary lists containing scorn
"Romeo and Juliet" by William Shakespeare, Act I
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Declaration of the Rights of Woman (1791)
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List 7
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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.
Scorn for precedent is the most venerable youth-culture tradition of them all, making hippies irrelevant as either forebears or entertaining objects of ridicule to anyone under 30.
From Los Angeles Times • Aug. 15, 2019
Scorn is the lingua franca of the fashion world, and it’s not surprising that West has come in for so much of it.
From New York Times • Apr. 10, 2015
Scorn has turned to sympathy which has turned to empathy, though it didn't happen in time to save Gimblett, or any number of others.
From The Guardian • Feb. 12, 2013
French President Francois Hollande’s Inability to Tie a Necktie Earns France’s Scorn French President Francois Hollande had barely taken office when he got in the hottest of hot water—in France at least: a sartorial gaffe.
From Newsweek • Nov. 10, 2012
Scorn and rage at this bold high-handed robbery, filled every bosom, and the nation trembled on the verge of war.
From The Second War with England, Vol. 1 of 2 by Headley, Joel Tyler
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.
