Despise

//dɪˈspaɪz// verb

verb ·Moderate ·High school level

Definitions

Verb
  1. 1
    To regard with contempt or scorn.

    "Near-synonym: hate"

  2. 2
    look down on with disdain wordnet
  3. 3
    To disregard or ignore.

Synonyms

All synonyms
contemncontemndisdainscorndisdainscorn

Example

More examples

"I utterly despise formal writing!"

Etymology

From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere (“to look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + speciō (“I look at”). Displaced native Old English forsēon.

Related phrases

hatred emotionshortened despicablesimilar despicable

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