despise

English

Alternative forms

• dispise (obsolete)

Etymology

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

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspaɪz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪz

Verb

despise (third-person singular simple present despises, present participle despising, simple past and past participle despised)

1. To regard with contempt or scorn.

   James still despises his brother for the time he pushed him out of a tree during their childhood.

2. To disregard or ignore.

Synonyms

• contemn
• disdain
• scorn
• See also Thesaurus:despise

Antonyms

• admire
• cherish
• honor
• respect
• treasure

Derived terms

• despisal
• despicable

Related terms

• despect
• despection

Translations

to regard with contempt or scorn

• Afrikaans: verag
• Arabic: اِحْتَقَرَ (iḥtaqara), أَهَانَ (ʔahāna)
• Belarusian: пагарджа́ць impf (pahardžácʹ)
• Bulgarian: презира́м (bg) impf (prezirám)
• Catalan: menysprear (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鄙薄 (zh) (bǐbó), 鄙夷 (zh) (bǐyí), 蔑視／蔑视 (zh) (mièshì), 藐視／藐视 (zh) (miǎoshì), 輕視／轻视 (zh) (qīngshì)

• Czech: pohrdat (cs) impf, opovrhovat (cs) impf
• Dalmatian: despreziur
• Danish: foragte
• Dutch: verachten (nl)
• Esperanto: abomeni (eo)
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
• French: mépriser (fr), dédaigner (fr)
• Galician: desprezar (gl)
• German: verachten (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: φαυλίζω (phaulízō), καταφρονέω (kataphronéō)

• Hindi: उपेक्षा करना (upekṣā karnā)
• Hungarian: lenéz (hu), megvet (hu)
• Irish: fuath a bheith agat, drochmheas a bheith agat

  Old Irish: do·meiccethar

• Italian: disprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 蔑む (ja) (sagesumu), 見下す (mikudasu), 軽蔑する (ja) (keibetsu suru), 嫌悪する (ja) (ken'o suru)
• Korean: 경멸하다 (ko) (gyeongmyeol-hada), 멸시하다 (ko) (myeolsi-hada)
• Latin: despiciō, contemnō
• Luxembourgish: veruechten, mepriséieren
• Maori: whakahāwea, whakatakao, whakaparahako, whakakurīmōri, whakamanumanu, whakareko
• Old English: forsēon
• Persian: خوار شمردن (xwâr šemordan) (bookish)
• Polish: gardzić (pl) impf, pogardzać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: desprezar (pt)
• Russian: презира́ть (ru) impf (prezirátʹ), презре́ть (ru) pf (prezrétʹ)
• Slovak: pohŕdať impf, opovrhovať impf
• Spanish: desdeñar (es)
• Swahili: dharau (sw)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)
• Turkish: hor görmek (tr), aşağılamak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: зневажа́ти (uk) impf (znevažáty), знева́жити pf (znevážyty)
• Volapük: nestümön (vo)
• Yiddish: פֿײַנט האָבן (faynt hobn), פֿאַראַכטן (farakhtn)

to disregard or ignore

• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐξουθενέω (exouthenéō)

See also

• vilipend

Further reading

• “despise”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “despise”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pedesis