scorn

[skawrn]

See more synonyms for scorn on Thesaurus.com

noun

open or unqualified contempt; disdain: His face and attitude showed the scorn he felt.
an object of derision or contempt.
a derisive or contemptuous action or speech.

verb (used with object)

to treat or regard with contempt or disdain: They scorned the old beggar.
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: Her good advice was laughed to scorn.

Origin of scorn

1150–1200; (noun) Middle English scorn, scarn < Old French escarn < Germanic (compare obsolete Dutch schern mockery, trickery); (v.) Middle English skarnen, sc(h)ornen < Old French escharnir, eschernir ≪ Germanic

Related formsscorn·er, nounscorn·ing·ly, adverbout·scorn, verb (used with object)self-scorn, nounun·scorned, adjective

Synonyms for scorn

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1. contumely. 4. disdain, contemn, despise, detest.

Synonym study

1. See contempt.

Antonyms for scorn

3. praise.

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words for scorner

hypocrite, impersonator, cheat, faker, sham, fake, sharper, actor, mountebank, imitator, shyster, phony, pretender, quack, fraud, trickster, deceiver, pseudo, mimic, charlatan

Examples from the Web for scorner

Historical Examples of scorner

Rabbi as thou art, thou art an Epicurean; thou sittest in the seat of the scorner.
Dreamers of the Ghetto
I. Zangwill
He also must be such a lady's scorner: he who is such a poor judge of horses and wines.
Introduction to Robert Browning
Hiram Corson
And he, the scorner of women, had chosen her for his homage!
The Ordeal of Richard Feverel, Complete
George Meredith
The most disagreeable of all people are those who "sit in the seat of the scorner."
Character
Samuel Smiles
Long ago oppressor and oppressed, prophet and scorner, had been dust.
Looking Backward
Edward Bellamy

British Dictionary definitions for scorner

scorn

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

Derived Formsscorner, nounscornful, adjectivescornfully, adverbscornfulness, noun

Word Origin for scorn

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

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

Word Origin and History for scorner

c.1300, agent noun from scorn (v.).

scorn

c.1200, a shortening of Old French escarn "mockery, derision, contempt," a common Romanic word (cf. Spanish escarnio, Italian scherno) of Germanic origin, from Proto-Germanic *skarnjan "mock, deride" (cf. Old High German skern "mockery, jest, sport," Middle High German scherzen "to jump with joy").

Probably influenced by Old French escorne "affront, disgrace," which is a back-formation from escorner, literally "to break off (someone's) horns," from Vulgar Latin *excornare (source of Italian scornare "treat with contempt"), from Latin ex- "without" (see ex-) + cornu "horn" (see horn (n.)).

scorn

c.1200, from Anglo-French, Old North French escarnir (Old French escharnir), from the source of scorn (n.). Cf. Old High German skernon, Middle Dutch schernen. Related: Scorned; scorning. Forms in Romanic languages influenced by confusion with Old French escorner "deprive of horns," hence "deprive of honor or ornament, disgrace."