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scorn

[ skawrn ]
/ skɔrn /
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See synonyms for: scorn / scorned / scorning / scorns 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.
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Idioms about scorn

    laugh to scorn, to ridicule; deride: Many of his sophisticated listeners laughed him to scorn.

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

synonym study for scorn

1. See contempt.

OTHER WORDS FROM scorn

scorn·er, nounscorn·ing·ly, adverbout·scorn, verb (used with object)self-scorn, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

Words related to scorn

derision, disdain, mockery, ridicule, sarcasm, sneer, abhor, defy, deride, despise, disregard, flout, hate, ignore, mock, refute, reject, repudiate, shun, spurn

How to use scorn in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for scorn

scorn
/ (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
verb
to treat with contempt or derision
(tr) to reject with contempt

Derived forms of scorn

scorner, 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
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