scorn
Americannoun
-
scorns
plural
verb (used with object)
-
scorns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scorned,
past participle, past
-
scorning
present participle
verb (used without object)
-
scorns,
present (3rd person singular)
-
scorned,
past participle, past
-
scorning
present participle
idioms
noun
-
open contempt or disdain for a person or thing; derision
-
an object of contempt or derision
-
archaic an act or expression signifying contempt
verb
-
to treat with contempt or derision
-
(tr) to reject with contempt
Synonym Usage
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
-
scornernoun
-
scornfulnessnoun
-
self-scornnoun
-
outscornverb (used with object)
-
scornfuladjective
-
scornfullyadverb
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scorninglyadverb
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
scornsimple
-
scornssimple
-
have scornedperfect
-
has scornedperfect
-
am scorningprogressive
-
are scorningprogressive
-
is scorningprogressive
-
have been scorningperfect progressive
-
has been scorningperfect progressive
Past
-
scornedsimple
-
had scornedperfect
-
was scorningprogressive
-
were scorningprogressive
-
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.
See Examples For:
"And I'm not saying that out of scorn."
From Barron's ● Oct. 9, 2026
He held particular scorn for the flat-earthers, who he thought were plants to discredit genuine research about extraterrestrial technology.
From Slate ● Sep. 22, 2026
“Trainspotting” is in part a sly corrective to “Clockwork,” which heaped scorn on both criminals and criminal justice.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 4, 2026
Or maybe Becerra was, indeed, a feckless, flailing and thoroughly awful Cabinet member, deserving of scorn and shame.
From Los Angeles Times ● May 31, 2026
Mary moved her things to Hob to avoid the scorn of her cabin mates.
From "The Underground Railroad: A Novel" by Colson Whitehead
The once beloved shoe maker has become the stock that Wall Street scorns.
From Barron's ● Oct. 1, 2026
It scorns those who won’t shake hands with an opponent postgame.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 3, 2026
And she consistently scorns consideration of congressional intent.
From Slate ● Jul. 31, 2023
This is especially true of its emotional beats: when Harry has trouble communicating with his son; when Albus scorns the weight of his father’s fame; when Scorpius struggles amid rumors about his parentage.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 8, 2022
I tells them how it happened in a dream, but they scorns me.
From "Invisible Man" by Ralph Ellison
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
They are, after all, world champions - and scorned ones at that.
From BBC ● Jun. 28, 2026
There are few things more universally powerful than a mama’s boy scorned.
From Salon ● May 10, 2026
A few years later, scorned by the king, Magellan is limping around Lisbon like a scruffy, taskless animal.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jan. 9, 2026
He stood proudly and saw this happen and he would not laugh when the clerks, who had scorned him before, now cried out, “Pretty characters the lad makes and he is a clever one!”
From "The Good Earth" by Pearl S. Buck
When Ferrari revealed the Purosangue three years ago, many in the red brigade derided the design and, more generally, the very idea of a Ferrari sport-utility vehicle, scorning it as a sort of heresy.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 18, 2026
We had both gone to law school to pursue public interest law, scorning classmates whose sole ambition was to land a job at a big firm and make six figures upon graduation.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 28, 2023
By scorning this routine digital probing, they attenuate their safety and intensify their exhilaration in roughly equal measure.
From New York Times ● Jul. 12, 2022
He spent a lifetime scorning bigotry as not only immoral but irrational and un-American.
From Slate ● Feb. 16, 2022
Now they had all seen—everyone in the shop—and no doubt were scorning him for a poor sort of creature, cringing and puny, unable to defend himself.
From "The Golden Goblet" by Eloise Jarvis McGraw
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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.
