spurn
[ spurn ]
/ spɜrn /
verb (used with object)
to reject with disdain; scorn.
to treat with contempt; despise.
to kick or trample with the foot.
verb (used without object)
to show disdain or contempt; scorn something.
noun
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RELATED WORDS
refuse, disdain, repudiate, dismiss, despise, flout, scorn, snub, reject, disregard, rebuff, decline, cut, dump, repulse, drop, scoff, disapprove, slight, air
Nearby words
- spurgeon, charles haddon,
- spurious,
- spurious ankylosis,
- spurious wing,
- spuriously,
- spurred,
- spurrey,
- spurrier,
- spurry,
- spurt
Origin of spurn
1250–1300; (v.) Middle English spurnen, Old English spurnan; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna to kick; akin to Latin spernere to put away; (noun) Middle English: a kick, contemptuous stroke, derivative of the noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for spurned
spurn
/ (spɜːn) /
verb
to reject (a person or thing) with contempt
(when intr, often foll by against) archaic to kick (at)
noun
an instance of spurning
archaic a kick or thrust
Word Origin for spurn
Old English spurnan; related to Old Norse sporna, Old High German spurnan, Latin spernere to despise, Lithuanian spiriu to kick
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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spurn
Old English spurnan "to kick (away), reject, scorn, despise," from Proto-Germanic *spurnanan (cf. Old Saxon and Old High German spurnan, Old Frisian spurna, Old Norse sporna "to kick"), from PIE root *spere- "ankle" (cf. Middle Dutch spoor "track of an animal," Greek sphyron "ankle," Latin spernere "to reject, spurn," Sanskrit sphurati "kicks," Middle Irish seir "heel"). Related: Spurned; spurning.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper