Contemptuous

//kənˈtɛmp.t͡ʃu.əs// adj

adj ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Adjective
  1. 1
    Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.

    "I don't know that guy, but he just gave me a contemptuous look."

  2. 2
    Worthy of contempt; contemptible. rare

    "Rep. Noble told GCN that she, however, had deep concern "regarding the scandalous sexual exploitation and abuse of young children by adults." Noble has called on the community to "support the efforts of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in unraveling this contemptuous situation."

Adjective
  1. 1
    expressing extreme contempt wordnet

Synonyms

All synonyms
disdainfuldisrespectfulcondescendingabjuratoryabusivearrogant

Example

More examples

"Some artists are contemptuous of criticism."

Etymology

From Latin contemptus (whence contempt) + -ous.

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