Word.ws English Dictionary

contemptuous

/kənˈtɛm(p).tʃu.əs/US/kənˈtɛmp.t͡ʃu.əs/

contemptuous adjective: showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.

Adjective

contemptuous (comparative more contemptuous, superlative most contemptuous)

  1. Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.
    • I don't know that guy, but he just gave me a contemptuous look.
    • Sir George burst into a loud fit of contemptuous laughter.1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Challenge”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 234
  2. (rare) Worthy of contempt; contemptible.
    • 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.1977 December 24, Jim Marko, quoting Elaine Noble, “Committee of Outrage to Protest Arrests”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 25, page 1

contemptuous meaning in Tamil, Urdu, Bengali and Malayalam

contemptuous in Tamil

இறுமாப்புள்ள, அலட்சியமுள்ள, கர்வமுள்ள, நிந்தனை செய்கிற, ஆழ்ந்த வெறுப்பு உள்ள, அவமானப் படுத்தும்

contemptuous in Urdu

اہانت آمیز, حقارت آمیز, ذلت آمیز

contemptuous in Bengali

অবজ্ঞাপূর্ণ, ঘৃণাপূর্ণ

contemptuous in Malayalam

പരിഹസിക്കുന്ന, വെറുപ്പുള്ള, നിന്ദയുള്ള, നീചമായ
More languagesFewer languages
contemptuous in Kannada
ಇಳಿಕೆಗೆಯ್ಯುವ, ಆಳಿಮಾಡುವ, ಕೊಬ್ಬಿದ, ಬೀಗುವ

Examples of contemptuous in a sentence

  • Every step—a light click of the heel and then a springy step, optimistic, perhaps a bit contemptuous.
  • The colloquial form of the city’s name thus entered the language as a contemptuous epithet.
  • He was sarcastic, downputting and in every way wonderfully contemptuous of Brian's self-righteous chest-pounding.

All 12 example sentences with contemptuous

Synonyms of contemptuous

Antonyms

Forms of contemptuous

comparativemore contemptuous
superlativemost contemptuous

Origin of contemptuous

From Latin contemptus (whence contempt) + -ous.

Words formed from contemptuous

Questions about contemptuous

What does contemptuous mean?
Contemptuous means showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.
What is contemptuous in Tamil?
Contemptuous in Tamil is இறுமாப்புள்ள, அலட்சியமுள்ள, கர்வமுள்ள. See Contemptuous meaning in Tamil.
What part of speech is contemptuous?
Contemptuous is an adjective.
How do you pronounce contemptuous?
Contemptuous is pronounced /kənˈtɛm(p).tʃu.əs/ (UK).

Words near contemptuous in the dictionary

  1. contemptives
  2. contempts
  3. contempts of court
  4. contemptuosities
  5. contemptuosity
  6. contemptuous
  7. contemptuously
  8. contemptuousness
  9. contemptus mundi
  10. contend
  11. contend with

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: contemptuous (page history and authors); contemptuous (Tamil Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contemptuous (Urdu Wiktionary) (page history and authors); Contemptuous (Bengali Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contemptuous (Malayalam Wiktionary) (page history and authors); contemptuous (Kannada Wiktionary) (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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