contemptuous
English
editEtymology
editLearned borrowing from Latin contemptus (whence contempt) + -ous.[1]
Pronunciation
edit- (UK) IPA(key): /kənˈtɛm(p).tʃu.əs/, /kənˈtɛm(p).tʃəs/, /kənˈtɛm(p).tju.əs/
Audio (Southern England): (file)
- (US) IPA(key): /kənˈtɛmp.t͡ʃu.əs/
Adjective
editcontemptuous (comparative more contemptuous, superlative most contemptuous)
- Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.
- I don't know that guy, but he just gave me a contemptuous look.
- 1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Challenge”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 234:
- Sir George burst into a loud fit of contemptuous laughter.
- 1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC:
- The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite. […] Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?
Synonyms
editAntonyms
editDerived terms
editRelated terms
editTranslations
editshowing contempt
|
References
edit- ^ Douglas Harper (2001–2024) “contemptuous”, in Online Etymology Dictionary.
Categories:
- English terms borrowed from Latin
- English learned borrowings from Latin
- English terms derived from Latin
- English terms suffixed with -ous
- English 4-syllable words
- English 3-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio links
- English lemmas
- English adjectives
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- en:Emotions