contemn
/kənˈtɛm/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 0.00 in modern English
11
Scrabble Score
7
Letters
2
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To disdain; to value at little or nothing; to treat or regard with contempt.
Dated; Transitive verb
verb
To commit an offence of contempt, such as contempt of court; to unlawfully flout (e.g. a ruling).
Example Sentences
- "The subject of the following History [...] is the unhappy Lives, and untimely Deaths, of that Unfortunate English King Edward the Second, and his two Favourites Gaveston and Spencer; for his immoderate love to whom, (Says Dr. Heylin) he was hated by the Nobles, and contemned by the Commons."
- "The change which had so suddenly elevated Charles Stuart to the throne of his ancestors, and, from a poor, wandering, and powerless exile, made him one of Europe's most powerful monarchs, had taken the various courts where he had sojourned, neglected, if not contemned, completely by surprise."
- "I was perturbed by the suspicion that the anguish of love contemned was alloyed in her broken heart with the pangs, sordid to my young mind, of wounded vanity."
Etymology
From Middle English contempnen, from Old French contemner, from Latin contemnō (“to scorn”). See also contempt.