disdain
Americanverb (used with object)
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disdains,
present (3rd person singular)
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disdained,
past participle, past
-
disdaining
present participle
noun
noun
verb
Synonym Usage
See contempt.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
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disdainsimple
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disdainssimple
-
have disdainedperfect
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has disdainedperfect
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am disdainingprogressive
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are disdainingprogressive
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is disdainingprogressive
-
have been disdainingperfect progressive
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has been disdainingperfect progressive
Past
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disdainedsimple
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had disdainedperfect
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was disdainingprogressive
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were disdainingprogressive
-
had been disdainingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of disdain
First recorded in 1300–50; (for the verb) Middle English disdainen, from Anglo-French de(s)deigner, equivalent to dis- 1 + deign; noun derivative of the verb
Explanation
If you feel that something isn't worthy of your consideration, you may disdain it (or treat it with disdain). In Old French, deignier meant "to treat something as worthy." To disdain something, then, is to treat it with contempt: "Management at [the company] displayed a certain disdain for safety and appeared to regard safety-conscious workers as wimps in the organization." As a verb, disdain carries an air of self-righteousness not associated with similar words like despise, abhor, detest, loathe and scorn. So if you disdain something, you might reject it with a haughty scoff, "Ha!"
Vocabulary lists containing disdain
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The SAT: Words to Capture Tone, List 1
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100 Top "SAT" Words
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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:
I am not going to calculate how many working Mondays I’ve had in my life, but even before I was working, I had a Garfield-esque disdain for the day.
From Salon ● Sep. 14, 2026
Another point in Europe’s favor is that international investors view the region much like Bessent does, with indifference if not disdain.
From MarketWatch ● Sep. 9, 2026
Indeed the player's agent Fernando Hidalgo has been open with his disdain towards how his client has been treated this summer.
From BBC ● Aug. 24, 2026
“There is a well documented and rather archaic disdain for my profession,” said Nils Busch-Petersen, head of the Berlin and Brandenburg retailers’ association.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 19, 2026
He tried to apply the treatment of disdain to Amaranta.
From "One Hundred Years of Solitude" by Gabriel Garcia Marquez
With no action expected on rates on Wednesday, the attention will be on him: Will he submit a forecast for rate projections he disdains?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 15, 2026
The former Fox News personality, who served as an Army National Guard infantry officer in Iraq and Afghanistan, disdains rules of engagement and other guardrails as constraining to the “warrior ethos.”
From Salon ● Mar. 11, 2026
Mr. Phippen delights in the process and disdains transactions with customers, which he finds stressful and distracting, leaving that part to Mr. Blocker.
From New York Times ● Apr. 20, 2022
This contrivance surely served only to highlight the absence of Ferrante herself, thus keeping the audience’s attention fixed on the figure of the missing “writer-hero” she disdains.
From Washington Post ● Mar. 16, 2022
Do you see how awful it is to be in love with someone who disdains you?
From "The Many Assassinations of Samir, the Seller of Dreams" by Daniel Nayeri
Rogoff and Reinhart disdained that finding as an “academic kerfuffle,” arguing that the errors had minimal effect on their own conclusions.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 1, 2026
Air conditioning, long disdained in France, is "no longer taboo at all", Jehanno said.
From Barron's ● Aug. 11, 2026
Though rigid about his schedule, he disdained not only cleanliness and exercise but regular medical care.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 31, 2026
And though life off the mountain didn’t always go smoothly, he disdained regret.
From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 8, 2026
The yacht had been sold to MoMo B. ChaCha through various channels because it was a symbol of wicked American excess, which The Peacock publicly disdained.
From "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray
How does a young woman go from disdaining weapons to designing them?
From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 7, 2025
Though “Vs.” is more of a reverse Kafka, with the witnesses disdaining the court’s authority.
From New York Times ● Aug. 1, 2021
He has few friends in politics, having flaunted his purity through the muddy streets of government for decades, disdaining all who compromise.
From Washington Post ● Feb. 14, 2020
But we manage, disdaining this driver we don’t know who takes forever to back out of his driveway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 28, 2018
Beyond its battered frame the black-barked trees grew straight to the heavens, disdaining the forest floor, where tangled heather and brush hid the path leading from this lonely spot.
From "Ophelia" by Lisa Klein
Definitions 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.
