1
as in disdainful
feeling or showing open dislike for someone or something regarded as undeserving of respect or concern
loutish tourists who are contemptuous of the ways and traditions of their host countries
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
contemptuous comments about the baseball team's pathetic showings
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of contemptuous
Trump seemed disinterested in and even contemptuous of Africa.
—
John Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2020
Tamil Nadu’s leaders have long been openly contemptuous of Hindu nationalism, and their governing philosophy represents a powerful alternative to Modi’s worldview.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025
The Supreme Court could potentially blow up this trend
The largest threat to the trend of fewer death sentences and executions is the Supreme Court’s Republican supermajority, which is often contemptuous of precedents handed down by earlier justices who Republican legal elites view as too liberal.
—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Evie, who has recently married another woman, is contemptuous of a religion that doesn’t hold space for her identity.
—Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
John Campbell, Foreign Affairs, 12 Oct. 2020
Tamil Nadu’s leaders have long been openly contemptuous of Hindu nationalism, and their governing philosophy represents a powerful alternative to Modi’s worldview.
—Robert F. Worth, The Atlantic, 2 Jan. 2025
The Supreme Court could potentially blow up this trend
The largest threat to the trend of fewer death sentences and executions is the Supreme Court’s Republican supermajority, which is often contemptuous of precedents handed down by earlier justices who Republican legal elites view as too liberal.
—Ian Millhiser, Vox, 7 Dec. 2018
Evie, who has recently married another woman, is contemptuous of a religion that doesn’t hold space for her identity.
—Alex Jhamb Burns, Vogue, 16 Dec. 2024
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contemptuous
Adjective
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President-Elect Donald Trump is openly disdainful of many governments in Europe and seems willing to walk away from America’s role as the continent’s protector.—
Phillips Payson O’Brien,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2025
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Now, the norms for AI will emerge in a political and cultural environment that's hostile to regulation and disdainful of limits.—
Scott Rosenberg,
Axios,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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This is the trapped subject, the voice crying out in the wilderness, seeking a response from the Everything but getting only the scornful bounce-back of itself.—
James Parker,
The Atlantic,
18 Feb. 2025
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With the scornful wave spreading across social media, Marvel waded in to stem the tide.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Russian politicians and state media were thrilled to hear the U.S. president backing their insulting and obvious lies.—
Elizabeth Shackelford,
Orlando Sentinel,
27 Feb. 2025
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La Liga players are often shown red cards for taking protests past the level which referees deem acceptable, sometimes for words which are less insulting or disrespectful than what was said by Bellingham.—
Dermot Corrigan,
The Athletic,
17 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The actor has one daughter with ex-wife Melanie Griffith and has been dating his girlfriend Nicole Kimpel since 2014. 05 of 09 John Lithgow as Lord Farquaad The actor behind the arrogant Lord Farquaad boasts an impressive career that began decades before Shrek came out in 2001.—
Zoey Lyttle,
People.com,
1 Mar. 2025
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Many members of its board appeared arrogant in the face of questions from the prosecutor or one of the lawyers.—
Laia Cervelló Herrero,
The Athletic,
23 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious apps is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
Fox News,
11 Mar. 2025
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Fraudsters are increasingly using generative AI to write convincing phishing emails, improve deepfakes, and draft new forms of malicious code — making scams harder to detect.—
Sam Sabin,
Axios,
11 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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After cutting ties with Kanye West following the rapper’s abhorrent antisemitic comments in October 2022, Adidas has finally offloaded the last of its Yeezy stock.—
Cheyenne Roundtree,
Rolling Stone,
5 Mar. 2025
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During the exchange, Hamas paraded the coffins and displayed propaganda in a move the UN called abhorrent.—
Chris Kenning,
USA TODAY,
20 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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The 2023 Economic Report Of The President published in March of 2023 was relatively disparaging of cryptoassets and DLTs.—
Lawrence Wintermeyer,
Forbes,
5 Dec. 2024
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Prior to appearing on Cunningham's show on Monday, Huggins made more disparaging remarks about Xavier.—
Emily DeLetter,
The Enquirer,
10 May 2023
Adjective
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Immigration advocates call the crackdown cruel and wrongheaded and warn that many Latino U.S. citizens will likely suffer violations of their civil rights and possibly even get mistakenly deported.—
Dave Goldiner,
New York Daily News,
6 Mar. 2025
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As mere surrogates, the Trump-DeSantis fight to outdo each other through mean and cruel policies will go on.—
Letters to the Editor,
Orlando Sentinel,
6 Mar. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contemptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemptuous. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.
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