Synonyms

scorn

American

[skawrn] / skɔrn /

noun

open or unqualified contempt; disdain.

His face and attitude showed the scorn he felt.

Synonyms:

contumely
an object of derision or contempt.
a derisive or contemptuous action or speech.

Antonyms:

praise

verb (used with object)

to treat or regard with contempt or disdain.

They scorned the old beggar.

Synonyms:

detest, despise, contemn, disdain
to reject, refuse, or ignore with contempt or disdain.

She scorned my help.

verb (used without object)

to mock; jeer.

idioms

laugh to scorn, to ridicule; deride.

Many of his sophisticated listeners laughed him to scorn.

scorn British

/ skɔːn /

noun

open contempt or disdain for a person or thing; derision
an object of contempt or derision
archaic an act or expression signifying contempt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

verb

to treat with contempt or derision
(tr) to reject with contempt

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Related Words

See contempt.

Other Word Forms

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

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

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.

The narrator decides to write a novel fictionalizing the surveyor’s account, shame be damned—“And yet, let them scorn me as they will, strong traits of their nature have intertwined themselves with mine.”

From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 5, 2026

It was a far cry from the scorn and threats reserved for Europe by its traditional ally the United States at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week.

From Barron's • Jan. 28, 2026

“To Americans who are watching this right now, and I don’t know, maybe you’re watching it with curiosity, bewilderment, horror, scorn or sympathy,” he said.

From Salon • Jan. 27, 2026

The alleged bottle thief could suffer public humiliation and/or private scorn if you tell the host and other guests what happened.

From MarketWatch • Dec. 24, 2025

“I scorn your idea of love,” I could not help saying, as I rose up and stood before him, leaning my back against the rock.

From "Jane Eyre" by Charlotte Brontë

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023