How to Use contemptible in a Sentence

contemptible

adjective
Definition of contemptiblenext
Synonyms for contemptiblenext
  • I've never met a more selfish, contemptible person.
  • The students find the whole idea of the writer as a gifted truth-teller — as a kind of god — contemptible.
    — Lori Soderlind, New York Times, 9 Mar. 2018
  • Either way, Rose has done contemptible things time cannot erase.
    — Dave Clark, Cincinnati.com, 3 Aug. 2017
  • Levin’s attempt to blur the lines between her case and more damning ones is contemptible — or worse.
    — Isaac Schorr, National Review, 30 Dec. 2020
  • Anonymous hater trolls are contemptible but are not unique to our movement.
    — New York Times, 13 Jan. 2017
  • This contemptible attack wasn’t an assault only on him, but on the West and all freethinkers.
    — Reza Pahlavi, WSJ, 18 Aug. 2022
  • Whatever Mueller does, half of the country will call him courageous and half will call him contemptible.
    — Peter Baker, New York Times, 8 June 2017
  • The word louse refers to unpleasant or contemptible people.
    — Rachel D'oro, The Seattle Times, 10 Sep. 2018
  • The point isn’t to feel sorry for Mr. Trump, whose rhetorical attacks on the press have often been contemptible.
    — The Editorial Board, WSJ, 26 Dec. 2018
  • When unleashed on Jews, is as vile and contemptible as the hatred of blacks and other minorities.
    — Dahleen Glanton, chicagotribune.com, 28 Aug. 2017
  • The Joni Mitchells of the world see this collage aesthetic as evidence of him being a contemptible fraud.
    — Spencer Kornhaber, The Atlantic, 14 June 2017
  • Why would an eternal spirit take on the contemptible condition of flesh?
    — James Matthew Wilson, WSJ, 24 Dec. 2020
  • In the next beat, Larson lays down her trump card, the most contemptible symbol an author can conjure: white-lady tears.
    — Katy Waldman, The New Yorker, 10 Oct. 2021
  • Mom would find the idea of using food for reasons other than nourishment contemptible.
    — Irv Erdoscolumnist, San Diego Union-Tribune, 5 Feb. 2023
  • The same hallowed grounds where over 1 million people were murdered is still the site of despicable and contemptible crimes.
    — Alan Goch, sun-sentinel.com, 14 Oct. 2021
  • DeSantis hasn’t yet paid the price for his contemptible behavior.
    — Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times, 22 Jan. 2024
  • Six years ago, Levy was backing Jeb Bush for president and dismissing Trump as contemptible.
    — Mark Pazniokas, Hartford Courant, 24 July 2022
  • The mayor is diverting public funds for a cathedral while proffering a large dowry to marry his 11-year-old daughter to a baron’s contemptible son.
    — J. Hoberman, New York Times, 23 June 2017
  • Ebenezer Scrooge has lived a contemptible life, but his selfishness hides that reality from him.
    — Peter J. Travers, National Review, 30 Dec. 2023
  • As usual, Trump’s Twitter storm was beyond contemptible for all the obvious reasons.
    — William D. Cohan, vanityfair.com, 2 Oct. 2017
  • Living with Edith was unequivocally good, even if the notion of exchanging cash for a kid sounds contemptible.
    — Hillary Kelly, The Atlantic, 19 Sep. 2023
  • In the entire pantheon of Disney villains, there is no one quite as fearsome—or as fashionable—as the callous, cold, and downright contemptible Cruella de Vil.
    — Jill Gleeson, Country Living, 8 July 2021
  • The annual flu shots that are free to those with health insurance are not immune from the convoluted and contemptible price-gouging that plague the US healthcare system.
    — Beth Mole, Ars Technica, 19 Nov. 2019
  • More contemptible than pitiful, his only concern when his wife gets murdered is covering his tracks.
    — Michael Nordine, Variety, 15 June 2023
  • As banjo-plucking Mister, the louse of a husband who acquires Celie for the price of a cow and a couple of eggs and then treats her like a workhorse to be beaten at will, Colman Domingo is suitably contemptible.
    — David Rooney, The Hollywood Reporter, 19 Dec. 2023
  • But to Arbus, who began as a fashion photographer, the various forms our denial takes were not contemptible.
    — Sebastian Smee, Washington Post, 26 Sep. 2022
  • What’s more contemptible: an assistant coach who bribes players for their services, or an assistant coach who uses his players to line his own pockets?
    — Joseph Goodman | [email protected], al.com, 14 July 2019
  • Of the many moral issues that have beset Americans since November, one of the most nagging is that of the once beloved relative who appears at the Thanksgiving table spouting contemptible ideas.
    — Lauren Collins, The New Yorker, 14 Apr. 2017
  • As notable as the president’s more contemptible qualities, but less discussed, is the fact that, among the public, some are apparently just now taking notice.
    — Becket Adams, National Review, 16 July 2023
  • Yes all his pious liberal Hollywood enablers who said nothing for decades are contemptible.
    — Frank Rich, Daily Intelligencer, 11 Oct. 2017

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'contemptible.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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