contemptuous
adjective
Did you know?
What Is the Difference Between contemptuous and contemptible?
Contemptuous and contemptible are sometimes confused with each other. This is neither surprising, as they are similar in appearance, nor is it unprecedented: the words were used interchangeably for several hundred years (from the 16th through the 18th century), with each one meaning both "deserving contempt" and "showing contempt." By the early 19th century, some commentators began raising objections when the words were used synonymously, suggesting that they should be distinguished, with contemptuous meaning only "showing contempt" and contemptible only "deserving contempt."
In the following passage, for example, a would-be critic is ridiculed for using contemptible in the sense "showing contempt":
“Young man! my opinion of you is very contemptible.” “All your opinions are contemptible,” rejoined Phillip, quietly. – Garry Avenel, Zou Mou, in The Iris, September, 1841
The distinction hinted at in this rebuke has been observed in English, by professional writers anyway, for close to 200 years.
Examples of contemptuous in a Sentence
Larry McMurtry, Dead Man's Walk, 1995
In his 1978 Harvard commencement address, Mr. Solzhenitsyn seemed at times contemptuous of American democracy …
—Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York Times Book Review, 24 Nov. 1991
He felt familiar enough to indulge in outbursts of rage or contemptuous sarcasm in her presence, and to display the most withering side of his character, lashing out at the people he despised.
—Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 20 Nov. 1989
loutish tourists who are contemptuous of the ways and traditions of their host countries
contemptuous comments about the baseball team's pathetic showings
Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 20 Jan. 2018
Critics have affixed to his output any number of adjectives meant to communicate its basic darkness: acerbic, malicious, cruel, contemptuous.
—Brandon Sanchez, Vulture, 25 Oct. 2024
The rocket lifted away slowly, as though in contemptuous defiance of physics.
—David W. Brown, The New Yorker, 15 Oct. 2024
With less than a week until Election Day, any miscalculation—especially one involving language perceived as contemptuous—can have far-reaching consequences.
—Nik Popli, TIME, 31 Oct. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contemptuous 
Dictionary Entries Near contemptuous
Cite this Entry
“Contemptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/contemptuous. Accessed 29 Nov. 2024.
Copy CitationKids Definition
contemptuous
adjective
Share