contemptuous

  • 1Contemptuous — Con*temp tu*ous (?; 135), a. Manifesting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful. [1913 Webster] A proud, contemptuous behavior. Hammond. [1913 Webster] Savage invective and contemptuous sarcasm. Macaulay. [1913 …

    The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • 2contemptuous — I adjective abasing, abject, abominable, abusive, accusatory, arbitrary, arrogant, base, brazen, bumptious, calumniating, calumniatory, calumnious, challenging, compromising, contemptible, contumelious, damaging, decrying, defamatory, defiant,… …

    Law dictionary

  • 3contemptuous — 1590s, from L. contemptus (see CONTEMPT (Cf. contempt)). Related: Contemptuously …

    Etymology dictionary

  • 4contemptuous — [adj] arrogant, insolent audacious, bold, cavalier, cheeky, cold shoulder, condescending, contumelious, cool, derisive, derisory, disdainful, disrespectful, dog it*, hard, hard nosed, haughty, high and mighty*, high hat*, insulting, on high… …

    New thesaurus

  • 5contemptuous — ► ADJECTIVE ▪ showing contempt. DERIVATIVES contemptuously adverb contemptuousness noun …

    English terms dictionary

  • 6contemptuous — [kən temp′cho͞o əs] adj. [ML contemptuosus] full of contempt; scornful; disdainful contemptuously adv. contemptuousness n …

    English World dictionary

  • 7contemptuous — adj. contemptuous of (he was contemptuous of all authority) * * * [kən temptʃʊəs] contemptuous of (he was contemptuous of all authority) …

    Combinatory dictionary

  • 8contemptuous — [[t]kənte̱mptʃuəs[/t]] ADJ GRADED: usu v link ADJ, oft ADJ of n If you are contemptuous of someone or something, you do not like or respect them at all. He was contemptuous of private farmers... He s openly contemptuous of all the major political …

    English dictionary

  • 9contemptuous — adjective 1 showing that you feel that someone or something is not important and deserves no respect: Cordelia threw him a contemptuous look. | be contemptuous of: He was openly contemptuous of his elder brother. 2 not feeling any fear in a… …

    Longman dictionary of contemporary English

  • 10contemptuous — adj. VERBS ▪ be, sound ▪ Her voice sounded almost contemptuous. ADVERB ▪ utterly ▪ almost ▪ …

    Collocations dictionary