contempt

English

Alternative forms

• cōtempt,cõtempt(obsolete)

Etymology

FromLatincontemptus(“scorn”),fromcontemnō(“I scorn, despise”),fromcom-+temnō(“I despise”).Displaced nativeOld Englishforsewennes.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key):/kənˈtɛmpt/

• Audio(US):

  (file)

• Rhymes:-ɛmpt

Noun

contempt(countableanduncountable,pluralcontempts)

1. (uncountable)The state or act ofcontemning;the feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something asinferior,base,orworthless;scorn,disdain.
   • 1918,W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell,chapter XIII, inThe Mirror and the Lamp,Indianapolis, Ind.:The Bobbs-Merrill Company,→OCLC:

     And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extremecontemptof the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.

   • 2023March 8, Howard Johnston, “Was Marples the real railway wrecker?”, inRAIL,number978,page53:

     Transport Minister Marples, meanwhile, used arrogant rhetoric and showed his personalcontemptfor railways when confirming in Parliament that a third of the network was to be closed even before the survey results were known.

2. The state of being despised or dishonored;disgrace.
3. (law)Open disrespect or willfuldisobedienceof theauthorityof a court of law or legislative body.
   • 2021October 19, Luke Broadwater, “House Panel Recommends Contempt Charge Against Bannon”, inThe New York Times‎^[1],→ISSN:

     The panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend charging Mr. [Stephen K.] Bannon with criminalcontemptof Congress for defying its subpoena, sending the issue to the House.

   • 2024April 28, Maggie Haberman, Jonah E. Bromwich, “Trump’s Trial Could Bring a Rarity: Consequences for His Words”, inThe New York Times‎^[2],→ISSN:

     Justice Merchan has yet to issue a ruling on whether to find Mr. Trump incontempt.

4. (chess,uncountable)Ellipsisofcontempt factor.

Synonyms

• SeeThesaurus:contempt

Antonyms

• SeeThesaurus:contempt

Derived terms

Terms derived fromcontempt(noun)

• beneath contempt
• contemptible
• contempt of Congress
• contempt of cop
• contempt of court
• contempt of Parliament
• contempt trap
• contemptuous
• familiarity breeds contempt
• hold in contempt
• self-contempt

Related terms

• contemn
• contemnor

Translations

a feeling or attitude

• Arabic:اِحْتِقَارm(iḥtiqār),اِزْدِرَاءm(izdirāʔ)
• Belarusian:пага́рдаf(pahárda)
• Bulgarian:презре́ние(bg)n(prezrénie),пренебреже́ние(bg)n(prenebrežénie)
• Catalan:menyspreu(ca)m
• Chinese:

  Mandarin:Bỉ di(zh)(bǐyí),Bỉ bạc(zh)(bǐbó),Bỉ thị／Bỉ thị(zh)(bǐshì),Khinh thị／Khinh thị(zh)(qīngshì)

• Czech:opovržení(cs)n,despektm,pohrdánín,přezíránín
• Danish:foragt(da)c
• Dutch:verachting(nl)f,minachting(nl)f
• Finnish:halveksunta(fi),halveksinta(fi),ylenkatse
• French:mépris(fr)m
• Galician:desprezo(gl)m
• German:Verachtung(de)f
• Greek:περιφρόνηση(el)f(perifrónisi),καταφρόνηση(el)f(katafrónisi)

  Ancient:καταφρόνημαn(kataphrónēma),ὑπεροψίαf(huperopsía)

• Hebrew:בוזm(buz)
• Hungarian:megvetés(hu)
• Icelandic:fyrirlitning(is)f
• Irish:dímheasm,tarcaisnef
• Italian:disprezzo(it)m
• Japanese:Khinh miệt(ja)(keibetsu),Khinh vũ(ja)(keibu),Vũ miệt(ja)(bubetsu)
• Korean:경멸(ko)(gyeongmyeol)
• Latin:contemptusm,dēspectiōf,fastusm
• Macedonian:презирm(prezir)
• Malayalam:പുച്ഛം(pucchaṁ)
• Old English:forsewennesf
• Persian:تحقیر(fa)(tahqir)
• Plautdietsch:Ve'achtunkf
• Polish:pogarda(pl)f,lekceważenie(pl)n
• Portuguese:desprezo(pt)m,desdém(pt)m,contemptom
• Romanian:dispreț(ro)n
• Russian:презре́ние(ru)n(prezrénije),пренебреже́ние(ru)n(prenebrežénije)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Roman:nadmenost(sh)f,nadutost(sh)f,prezrivost(sh)f,prezir(sh)m

• Spanish:desprecio(es)m,desdén(es)m
• Swedish:missnöje(sv)n,misshag(sv),förakt(sv)n,avsmak(sv)c
• Turkish:küçümsemek(tr)
• Ukrainian:прези́рство(uk)(prezýrstvo),не́хтування(néxtuvannja)
• Volapük:nestüm(vo)
• Yiddish:פֿאַראַכטונגf(farakhtung)

a state of being despised or dishonored

• Czech:opovržení(cs)n,poníženín
• Danish:vanærec
• Finnish:kunniattomuus
• German:Schande(de)f,Blamage(de)f
• Greek:περιφρόνηση(el)f(perifrónisi)
• Hungarian:megvetettség
• Icelandic:óvirðing(is)f
• Japanese:Khinh miệt(ja)(keibetsu)
• Maori:whakahariharitaetanga,whakapu(w)hetotanga,tokorekotanga
• Polish:pogarda(pl)f,lekceważenie(pl)n
• Russian:позо́р(ru)m(pozór),бесче́стие(ru)n(besčéstije)
• Spanish:desgracia(es)f,deshonra(es)f,vergüenza(es)f
• Swedish:missaktning(sv)c
• Turkish:hor görülmek

law: open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority

• Bulgarian:неуважение(bg)n(neuvaženie)
• Danish:foragt(da)c,foragt for retten,(disrespect of a court of law)
• Dutch:minachting(nl)f
• Esperanto:kontumaco
• Finnish:oikeuden halventaminen(open disrespect of a court of law)
• French:outrage(fr)m
• German:Mißachtung(de)f,Beamtenbeleidigung(de)
• Greek:περιφρόνηση(el)f(perifrónisi)
• Hungarian:figyelmen kívül hagyás,semmibevétel(hu),semmibevevés(hu)
• Icelandic:óvirðing(is)f
• Maori:takahi ture
• Persian:اهانت(fa)(ehânat),بیحرمتی(bi-hormati)
• Polish:lekceważenie(pl)n,obraza(pl)f
• Portuguese:desacato(pt)m
• Russian:неуваже́ние(ru)n(neuvažénije)
• Spanish:desacato(es)m
• Tagalog:pagsuway,paglapastangan
• Ukrainian:знева́га(zneváha)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions atWiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

• Ido:^{(pleaseverify)}des-estimo

Further reading

• “contempt”,inWebster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary,Springfield, Mass.:G. & C. Merriam,1913,→OCLC.
• “contempt”,inThe Century Dictionary[…],New York, N.Y.:The Century Co.,1911,→OCLC.
• “contempt”,inOneLook Dictionary Search.