disdained; disdaining; disdains
Examples of disdain in a Sentence
Noun
McCarthy's indifference to accolades and his disdain for grandstanding … turned into a disdain even for being understood.
—
Louis Menand, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2004
There is fierce disdain within the Pentagon for the passive U.N. peacekeepers who stood by while thousands were murdered in Bosnia's ethnic cleansing.
—Joe Klein, Time, 24 Nov. 2003
But for all its playful love of puns and cool disdain for "suits," the high-tech world is, at heart, a cruel, unforgiving place ruled by the merciless dynamics of the marketplace.
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 27 June 2002
He regarded their proposal with disdain.
I have a healthy disdain for companies that mistreat their workers.
Verb
The right eyes him [Thomas Jefferson] suspiciously as a limousine Jacobin so enamored of revolution that he once suggested we should have one every 20 years. The left disdains him as your basic race hypocrite.
—Charles Krauthammer, Time, 22 May 2000
Only in our last days on the peninsula (the arm of Antarctica that polar scientists disdain as the "Banana Belt") did we see our first frozen sea …
—Kate Ford, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 1998
His vehicle would be a form he both enjoyed and disdained—pulp fiction.
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 20 Sept. 1992
There is also evidence of epic womanizing that Mr. Schickel mentions but loftily announces that he disdains to tell us about.
—Camille Paglia, New York Times Book Review, 21 July 1991
They disdained him for being weak.
She disdained to answer their questions.
Louis Menand, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2004
There is fierce disdain within the Pentagon for the passive U.N. peacekeepers who stood by while thousands were murdered in Bosnia's ethnic cleansing.
—Joe Klein, Time, 24 Nov. 2003
But for all its playful love of puns and cool disdain for "suits," the high-tech world is, at heart, a cruel, unforgiving place ruled by the merciless dynamics of the marketplace.
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 27 June 2002
He regarded their proposal with disdain.
I have a healthy disdain for companies that mistreat their workers.
Verb
The right eyes him [Thomas Jefferson] suspiciously as a limousine Jacobin so enamored of revolution that he once suggested we should have one every 20 years. The left disdains him as your basic race hypocrite.
—Charles Krauthammer, Time, 22 May 2000
Only in our last days on the peninsula (the arm of Antarctica that polar scientists disdain as the "Banana Belt") did we see our first frozen sea …
—Kate Ford, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 1998
His vehicle would be a form he both enjoyed and disdained—pulp fiction.
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 20 Sept. 1992
There is also evidence of epic womanizing that Mr. Schickel mentions but loftily announces that he disdains to tell us about.
—Camille Paglia, New York Times Book Review, 21 July 1991
They disdained him for being weak.
She disdained to answer their questions.
Recent Examples on the Web
Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Trump posted about his disdain for the portrait on Sunday and blamed Gov. Jared Polis (D), who was not in office at the time the artwork was commissioned and not involved in the 2019 unveiling a few months after he was sworn in.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 24 Mar. 2025
Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2025
For his second presidential term, Donald Trump stacked his health team with men who disdain the medical consensus.
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disdain
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Noun
At the center of this tempest is the Trumpian disdain toward the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), and especially the European nations that are America's main partners in that great endeavor.
—Josh Hammer, MSNBC Newsweek, 1 Apr. 2025
Trump posted about his disdain for the portrait on Sunday and blamed Gov. Jared Polis (D), who was not in office at the time the artwork was commissioned and not involved in the 2019 unveiling a few months after he was sworn in.
—Elizabeth Crisp, The Hill, 24 Mar. 2025
Verb
The Republicans who disdained him and tried to terminate his leadership have made his point by leaving the party and becoming Democrats (or at least voting for Democrats).
—Isaac Chotiner, New Yorker, 1 Apr. 2025
For his second presidential term, Donald Trump stacked his health team with men who disdain the medical consensus.
—Ezekiel J. Emanuel, The Atlantic, 4 Mar. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disdain
Cite this Entry
“Disdain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disdain. Accessed 11 Apr. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
disdain
1 of 2 noun
dis·dain
dis-ˈdān 
: a feeling of scorn for something or someone regarded as beneath oneself
disdain
2 of 2 verb1
: to look with scorn on
disdained us for being afraid
2
: to reject or refuse because of disdain
disdained to answer
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