Contemn

//kənˈtɛm// verb

verb ·Moderate ·College level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To disdain; to value at little or nothing; to treat or regard with contempt. dated, transitive

    "The subject of the following History [...] is the unhappy Lives, and untimely Deaths, of that Unfortunate English King Edward the Second, and his two Favourites Gaveston and Spencer; for his immoderate love to whom, (Says Dr. Heylin) he was hated by the Nobles, and contemned by the Commons."

  2. 2
    look down on with disdain wordnet
  3. 3
    To commit an offence of contempt, such as contempt of court; to unlawfully flout (e.g. a ruling).

Synonyms

All synonyms
despisedespisescornslightabhorabjure

Example

More examples

"The subject of the following History [...] is the unhappy Lives, and untimely Deaths, of that Unfortunate English King Edward the Second, and his two Favourites Gaveston and Spencer; for his immoderate love to whom, (Says Dr. Heylin) he was hated by the Nobles, and contemned by the Commons."

Etymology

From Middle English contempnen, from Old French contemner, from Latin contemnō (“to scorn”). See also contempt.

Related phrases

contempt of court

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Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.