contemptuosity
contemptuosity noun: the state of being contemptuous.
Noun
contemptuosity (countable and uncountable, plural contemptuosities)
- The state of being contemptuous.
- That the said Mr. Cornelius Dalton persisted, notwithstanding this great act of contemptuosity and discouragement to his creditable and industrious endeavours, to expend, upon the aforesaid farm, in solid and valuable improvements, a sum of seven hundred pounds and upwards, in building, draining...1846 October, William Carleton, “[The Black Prophet.—A Tale of Irish Famine.] Chapter XXII.—Jemmy Branigan and the Pedlar.”, in The Dublin University Magazine, a Literary and Political Journal...
- Tony. And so I was Bessy, I was quarrelling with myself, I assure you it takes a deal of powerful language to make any impression on me, I’m obliged to come it very strong to do myself any good, but I think I have at last lashed myself into a determination not to stand it as I have done. Bessy....1850, A[nthony] Younge, “Scene I.—A Rural Scene.”, in A Village Tale, an Interlude, […], London: […] S. G. Fairbrother, […], page 5
- Someone or something that is contemptuous.
- And now, if all the devices made use of on the occasion we have suggested—scowls, contemptuosities, cries of “humbug,” “devil in’t,“ charlatanry, and the hue and cry of editors, D. D.’s, M. D.’s, priests, lawyers, fashionability of churches, etc., put into grand action for reversing the mighty...1872 January 20, J. R. Robinson, “From the Winona (Minn.) Republican. Huxley and the Spiritualists. That Eminent Scientist Catches an American Tartar in a Winona Defender of the Faith.”, in...
- A contemptuosity writes:—“The League of Victorian Wheelmen allow their racing men to ride in anything, from a nightshirt to a potato sack. When Crisp won the Austral he rode in a sleeveless football or rowing guernsey, and looked so nice, as you may imagine.”1898 March 26, “Sport Jots”, in The Clipper, volume 4, number 259, Hobart, Tas., page 4, column 3
Examples of contemptuosity in a sentence
- Why your uncle’s contemptuosity and opposition to our union; I suppose because my cousin won’t marry him—he likes to make every body as miserable as himself.1850, A[nthony] Younge, “Scene I.—A Rural Scene.”, in A Village Tale, an Interlude, […], London: […] S. G. Fairbrother, […], page 5:
- But why this rejectiousness and contemptuosity?1868, Rayne Meade [pseudonym; Walter Parke], “The Tents of Torture”, in The Skull Hunters!: A Terrific Tale of the Prairie!! (Judy’s...
- A certain German gentleman, not a hundred miles from the Spanish market, got cross one day with some members who were teasing him, and informed them that “familiarity breeds contemptuosity.”1887, G[eorge] Duckworth Atkin (collector), House Scraps, London: […] [T]he Author […], page 8:
- L. that he should treat you with such “contemptuosity?”1890 May 31, Brittle, “Sparks from Brittle’s Pen. Interesting Facts and Fancies Culled from the Doggy World.”, in The Fanciers’ Journal....
Synonyms of contemptuosity
Forms of contemptuosity
| plural | contemptuosities |
|---|
Origin of contemptuosity
From contemptu(ous) + -osity.
Questions about contemptuosity
- What does contemptuosity mean?
- Contemptuosity means the state of being contemptuous.
- How do you use contemptuosity in a sentence?
- Why your uncle’s contemptuosity and opposition to our union; I suppose because my cousin won’t marry him—he likes to make every body as miserable as himself.
- What part of speech is contemptuosity?
- Contemptuosity is a noun.
- What is the plural of contemptuosity?
- The plural of contemptuosity is contemptuosities.
Words near contemptuosity in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: contemptuosity (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “contemptuosity.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/contemptuosity. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.