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
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
Reporters circle, looking for a chance to embarrass the military for accepting Black women into its ranks, while male colleagues are openly disrespectful, with Gen. Halt (Dean Norris) setting a contemptuous example from the top.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Dec. 2024
Trump didn’t go for broad appeal Fabrizio and his allies were openly contemptuous of efforts—in the primary and then the general—to reach more voters.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 6 Dec. 2024
See all Example Sentences for contemptuous 
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
Reporters circle, looking for a chance to embarrass the military for accepting Black women into its ranks, while male colleagues are openly disrespectful, with Gen. Halt (Dean Norris) setting a contemptuous example from the top.
—Peter Debruge, Variety, 6 Dec. 2024
Trump didn’t go for broad appeal Fabrizio and his allies were openly contemptuous of efforts—in the primary and then the general—to reach more voters.
—Philip Elliott, TIME, 6 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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With the scornful wave spreading across social media, Marvel waded in to stem the tide.—
Thomas G. Moukawsher,
Newsweek,
5 Feb. 2025
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What price female solidarity and empowerment, after all, if the weapon of actualization is an abusive system, one that invariably draws Santosh into its clubby, scornful, vigilante mindset?—
Robert Abele,
Los Angeles Times,
10 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Courts should continue to quickly reject his absurd, insulting, and ahistorical legal arguments, which violate the clear text of the 14th Amendment.—
Elizabeth Wydra and Nina Henry,
Newsweek,
28 Jan. 2025
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For many, the very idea was insulting and represented an abandonment of loyal fans in Birmingham who can’t afford to fly out to the United States.—
Hannah Ryan,
CNN,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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Saxon, for instance, is filling the same spoiled, arrogant space as Jake Lacy’s Shane from Season One.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
11 Feb. 2025
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From director James Ashcroft (Coming Home in the Dark), who co-wrote the script with Eli Kent, The Rule of Jenny Pen centers on arrogant judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush), who has to live in a retirement home after a near-fatal stroke leaves him partially paralyzed.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
EW.com,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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Their malicious actions are putting the health of people, especially children, at grave risk, and will surely lead to future public health and migration crises in the U.S. – let alone suffering around the globe.—
David Faris,
Newsweek,
3 Feb. 2025
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National Security Meet the man leading the front-line effort in Ukraine's cyberwar with Russia Sources speculate that the messages were artfully crafted to not use specific slurs, possibly sketchy URLs or obviously malicious language that filters would catch.—
Jenna McLaughlin,
NPR,
2 Feb. 2025
Adjective
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These abhorrent behaviors and actions are the standard modus operandi for the head of the Republican party.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
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My family attended an evangelical church that believed in Hell in a way that would have been intelligible, if abhorrent, to the medieval Catholic Dante.—
Elisa Gonzalez,
The New Yorker,
3 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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Immigrant advocates call those moves cruel and unnecessary.—
Joel Rose,
NPR,
8 Feb. 2025
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The current government’s purposeful misrepresentation and defamation of DEI in such a comprehensively cruel and malicious manner deserves nothing less than personal and communal outrage and resistance.—
Dr. Tony Lux,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near contemptuous
Cite this Entry
“Contemptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemptuous. Accessed 18 Feb. 2025.
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