contumelious

adjective

ˌkän-tü-ˈmē-lē-əs How to pronounce contumelious (audio)
Definition of contumeliousnext
as in abusive
marked by harsh insulting language a well-reasoned thesis that merited more than just a scornful, contumelious response

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Examples Sentences

Recent Examples of Synonyms for contumelious
  1. abusive
  2. insulting
  3. outrageous
  4. obscene
Adjective
  • The worst one was emotionally abusive and ridiculously mean.
    Essence, Essence, 17 Dec. 2024
  • Yet other experts say that blanket message may miss the world where many people live, facing life in a high-crime neighborhood or worried about an abusive former partner.
    John Diedrich, USA TODAY, 14 Dec. 2024
Definition of abusive
Adjective
  • Arizona State football fans slam 'truly insulting' College Football Playoff graphic Winter swoon: December has not been kind to Phoenix Suns in recent years The vehicle backed out of the driveway and into the road.
    Olivia Rose, The Arizona Republic, 13 Dec. 2024
  • The dawning of his second term has invoked jubilation from those who welcome Trump back to the Oval Office and fear from those alarmed by his insulting rhetoric about political opponents, the media, migrants and others.
    Alexandria Burris, The Indianapolis Star, 14 Nov. 2024
Definition of insulting
Adjective
  • Hechinger plays the outrageous Emperor Caracalla, who rules Rome alongside his twin, Emperor Geta (Joseph Quinn).
    Samantha Bergeson, IndieWire, 6 Dec. 2024
  • The default punished Jones for failing to comply with court orders to disclose business records and found in favor of the families on the central point of their suit — that Jones’ hoax broadcasts were outrageous lies and were responsible for a decade of harassment and anguish.
    Edmund H. Mahony, Hartford Courant, 6 Dec. 2024
Definition of outrageous
Adjective
  • Blink Twice nods at a tangle of different contemporary ailments: lifestyle fetishism, wellness hedonism, our obscene fealty to stolid tech bros and their untrammeled wealth.
    Sophie Gilbert, The Atlantic, 6 Dec. 2024
  • Many are short baby names—partly because Australia prohibits long names, obscene words, and names with symbols or too many hyphens.1 Here are some of our favorite boys' names from the land down under.
    Sherri Gordon, Parents, 2 Dec. 2024
Definition of obscene
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.

Thesaurus Entries Near contumelious

contumacy

contumelious

contuse

See More Nearby Entries 

Cite this Entry

“Contumelious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contumelious. Accessed 21 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation

Share

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See All

Point of View: It's Personal

Plural and Possessive Names: A Guide

What's the difference between 'fascism' and 'socialism'?

More Commonly Misspelled Words

Words You Always Have to Look Up
See All

Popular in Wordplay

See All

8 Words with Fascinating Histories

8 Words for Lesser-Known Musical Instruments

Birds Say the Darndest Things

10 Words from Taylor Swift Songs (Merriam's Version)

10 Scrabble Words Without Any Vowels
See All

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Word Game Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
naughty or nice
Are you naughty or nice? Quiz He's making a quiz, and checking it twice...