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What is "contempt"

Crossword clues for contempt

contempt
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
contempt
noun
COLLOCATIONS FROM OTHER ENTRIES
beneath contempt (=so bad that you have no respect for the person involved)
▪ I consider such behaviour to be beneath contempt.
treat sb with respect/contempt/suspicion etc
▪ When you treat the kids with respect, they act responsibly.
utter contempt
▪ This company treats its employees with utter contempt.
COLLOCATIONS FROM CORPUS
■ ADJECTIVE
deep
▪ He had a deep contempt for the bureaucratic mind and took particular delight in circumventing bureaucratic obstruction.
▪ But he was excluded from most official events, for which he had always shown nothing but the deepest contempt.
▪ I'd have scarcely thought it possible, but the lady in black found a look of even deeper contempt for me.
guilty
▪ But the court subsequently found two specific breaches involving officers of the union and held the union guilty of contempt.
▪ In each case the appellant has been found guilty of contempt of court and has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
open
▪ His humiliation and fear were washed away by a tide of anger, at this open display of contempt.
▪ Her dark eyes regarded her father and me with open contempt.
▪ The disorder, the whisperings, the giggles, the open contempt!
▪ That was what it was, but it hurt just the same, his open contempt of her.
utter
▪ Shortly after shooting them, Conroy displayed utter contempt for his two victims, the court heard.
▪ Having won their votes from the gullible, as well as the dedicated, the republicans now show their utter contempt for democracy.
▪ Treat him with the utter contempt he deserves.
▪ Despite the profit-making prospects in this it has been treated with utter contempt on the grounds that charity begins at home.
■ VERB
breed
▪ It also ensures that omissions are not made simply because you have dictated the letter so often that familiarity has bred contempt.
▪ The United States has usually been an exception to the rule that familiarity breeds contempt.
▪ For them, familiarity has bred contempt.
▪ Intimacy breeds contempt, but maybe we have gone too far.
▪ I see them every day and familiarity doesn't breed contempt so much as disgust in me.
▪ Arrogance in athletes breeds contempt in fans.
▪ A major difficulty with such a test is that familiarity may breed tolerance rather than contempt.
express
▪ At first she could think of nothing to say, because there was nothing that would adequately express her contempt.
▪ Why do they express contempt for any correspondence theories of epistemology that involve attentive engagement with the real?
▪ Squire and Ickes have expressed contempt for Mr Morris in earlier times.
▪ He prospered in this country, plying a uniquely leisure-class trade, and then expressed petty contempt for his hosts.
feel
▪ She was surprised to find that she felt only contempt.
▪ In the piece he confessed that he had once been a Marxist, but now felt contempt for such thinking.
▪ And I felt resentful contempt of my own, for Sebastian and his deferential barber.
▪ Especially with a woman for whom he felt nothing but contempt.
▪ Yet this was a man who felt nothing but contempt for her, who thought her no better than a thief.
▪ Many who disliked him are beginning to feel the same contempt and venom they felt for Baroness Bonkers.
find
▪ She found Jen's contempt for politicians both bracing and worrying.
▪ Boylston found Sherrod in contempt and sentenced him to 179 days in jail, but then transferred the sentence to Holley.
▪ The New York City officials were found in contempt of court for failing to find shelter quickly enough for needy families.
▪ In each case the appellant has been found guilty of contempt of court and has been sentenced to a term of imprisonment.
▪ Nor can they be found to be in contempt of court in relation to words spoken in the course of proceedings in Parliament.
hold
▪ She would never allow him a reason to pity her again, to hold her in contempt.
▪ McSpadden ruled that Lenhart had no such privilege, held her in contempt of court and ordered her jailed.
▪ Nevertheless they were held to be in contempt but, the strike having collapsed, no penalty was imposed.
▪ A state district judge held Lenhart in contempt, when she refused to identify the grand jurors who spoke to her.
▪ How could she have let herself be used by a man who held her in contempt?
▪ To these people, whom they held in deeply justified contempt, both women paid ample lip-service.
▪ Several unions were held to be in contempt, were fined and had their assets sequestrated.
▪ And they all hold supply-side economics in contempt.
jail
▪ The company won, and when McLaren failed to show up in court, he was jailed for contempt.
purge
▪ There was no possibility of his being able to purge his contempt within a short time of his committal.
▪ It should also inform him of his right to apply to the court to purge his contempt.
▪ The notice also informs the contemnor of his right to apply to the court to purge his contempt and ask for release.
show
▪ Because he was literate and articulate, he showed a bitter contempt for the self-appointed intellectuals of the inter-war years.
▪ My clients say these things, perhaps, to belittle or show contempt for their local officers, who are their enemies.
▪ He showed his world his contempt for the job by doing it very badly.
▪ Having won their votes from the gullible, as well as the dedicated, the republicans now show their utter contempt for democracy.
▪ Within the familiarity of marriage there are many subtle ways of showing anger, contempt or cruelty.
▪ The prison hero is the one who most openly shows anger and contempt for the staff.
▪ Yet these can be overcome if people unite to show their contempt for the cruel, vicious minority.
treat
▪ Despite the profit-making prospects in this it has been treated with utter contempt on the grounds that charity begins at home.
▪ She was preparing to marry me and had applied for papers, but she treated me with contempt.
▪ Non-cooperation is treated as contempt of court.
▪ Opposition forces claim past practice as the basis for treating women with contempt.
▪ As imperial portraits attracted faith, so images of emperors who had betrayed their subjects' trust were treated with contempt.
▪ But, happily, not everybody treats kids with contempt.
▪ Maybe Lucenzo had good reason to treat her with contempt.
▪ Telemachus they treated with amused contempt as if he were a mere boy and quite beneath their notice.
PHRASES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
familiarity breeds contempt
▪ Perhaps familiarity breeds contempt - among teachers as well as children.
▪ The first is that familiarity breeds contempt.
▪ The United States has usually been an exception to the rule that familiarity breeds contempt.
EXAMPLES FROM OTHER ENTRIES
▪ He never tried to hide his contempt for those who were not as intelligent as him.
▪ I feel nothing but contempt for people who are obsessed with fast cars and designer clothes.
▪ The teachers were very old-fashioned, treating any new ideas with contempt and scorn.
EXAMPLES FROM CORPUS
▪ And they all hold supply-side economics in contempt.
▪ I did not tell you lies but I do deserve your contempt.
▪ She remembered the contempt, the ice in his glance.
▪ The contempt for Daley was pouring down from all directions.
▪ This contempt for others is a denial of humanity.
▪ We should not allow that, because that would be a contempt of democracy.
The Collaborative International Dictionary
Contempt

Contempt \Con*tempt"\ (k[o^]n*t[e^]mt"; 215), n. [L. contemptus, fr. contemnere: cf. OF. contempt. See Contemn.]

  1. The act of contemning or despising; the feeling with which one regards that which is esteemed mean, vile, or worthless; disdain; scorn.

    Criminal contempt of public feeling.
    --Macaulay.

    Nothing, says Longinus, can be great, the contempt of which is great.
    --Addison.

  2. The state of being despised; disgrace; shame.

    Contempt and begarry hangs upon thy back.
    --Shak.

  3. An act or expression denoting contempt.

    Little insults and contempts.
    --Spectator.

    The contempt and anger of his lip.
    --Shak.

  4. (Law) Disobedience of the rules, orders, or process of a court of justice, or of rules or orders of a legislative body; disorderly, contemptuous, or insolent language or behavior in presence of a court, tending to disturb its proceedings, or impair the respect due to its authority.

    Note: Contempt is in some jurisdictions extended so as to include publications reflecting injuriously on a court of justice, or commenting unfairly on pending proceedings; in other jurisdictions the courts are prohibited by statute or by the constitution from thus exercising this process.

    Syn: Disdain; scorn; derision; mockery; contumely; neglect; disregard; slight.

Douglas Harper's Etymology Dictionary
contempt

late 14c., from Latin contemptus "scorn," from past participle of contemnere "to scorn, despise," from com-, intensive prefix (see com-), + *temnere "to slight, scorn," which is of uncertain origin. Phrase contempt of court is attested from 19c., though the idea is several centuries older.

Wiktionary
contempt

n. (context uncountable English) The state or act of contemning; the feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless; scorn, disdain.

Related phrases:
WordNet
contempt

  1. n. lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike; "he was held in contempt"; "the despite in which outsiders were held is legendary" [syn: disdain, scorn, despite]

  2. a manner that is generally disrespectful and contemptuous [syn: disrespect]

  3. open disrespect for a person or thing [syn: scorn]

  4. a willful disobedience to or disrespect for the authority of a court or legislative body

Related phrases:
Wikipedia
Contempt

Contempt, not classified among Paul Ekman's six basic emotions of anger, disgust, fear, happiness, sadness, and surprise, is a mixture of disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393, from the Latin word contemptus meaning "scorn". It is the past participle of contemnere and from com- intensive prefix + temnere "to slight, scorn". The origin is uncertain. Contemptuous appeared in 1529.

Robert C. Solomon places contempt on the same continuum as resentment and anger, and he argues that the differences between the three are that resentment is anger directed toward a higher-status individual; anger is directed toward an equal-status individual; and contempt is anger directed toward a lower-status individual.

Contempt (film)

Contempt (released in the UK as ) is a 1963 French satirical drama film written and directed by Jean-Luc Godard, based on the Italian novel Il disprezzo (A Ghost at Noon) by Alberto Moravia. It stars Brigitte Bardot, Michel Piccoli, Jack Palance, and Giorgia Moll.

Contempt (disambiguation)

Contempt is an intense feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless.

Contempt or contemptible may also refer to:

  • Contempt (album), a 1999 EBM album by Assemblage 23
  • Contempt (film), a 1963 drama film
  • Contempt of Congress, the act of obstructing the work of the United States Congress or one of its committees
  • Contempt of court, a kind of judicial proceeding
  • Contempt of Parliament, the crime of obstructing the parliament in the carrying out of its functions
  • The Old Contemptibles, the British Expeditionary Force in World War I
Contempt (album)

Contempt is the first album by Assemblage 23. In 1998, the Canadian label Gashed Records signed Assemblage 23 and released Contempt in 1999. Shortly afterwards it was re-released by Metropolis Records International.

Related phrases:

Usage examples of "contempt".

He might abuse her in some other way, such as by inserting his fingers or an object to demonstrate his control and contempt, and in fact, we soon learned of the vaginal abrasions and bruising.

The husband married again, and on his return to Massachusetts, his ex-wife petitioned the Massachusetts court to adjudge him in contempt for failing to make payments for her separate support under the earlier Massachusetts decree.

I shall endeavour to extract, from the midst of insult and contempt and maledictions, those admonitions which may tend to correct whatever imperfections such censurers may discover in this my first serious appeal to the Public.

At one time I would think of devoting all my intelligence and all my money to kindling an amorous passion in her heart, and then to revenge myself by treating her with contempt.

The Dowager, with a magnificent disregard for the coachman and the footman, perched on the box-seat in front of her, knew no such reticence, and discoursed with great freedom on the birth of an heir to the barony, animadverting with embarrassing candour, and all the contempt of a matriarch who had brought half-a-dozen children into the world without fuss or complications, on sickly young women who fancied themselves to be ill days before their time, and ended by suffering cross births and hard labours.

Mona the clone had felt only contempt for her, and Billy Anker had pitied her even as she killed him: in addition his hard death still hung before her, like the menu for her own.

There is not simply an inquiry as to the value of classic culture, a certain jealousy of the schools where it is obtained, a rough popular contempt for the graces of learning, a failure to see any connection between the first aorist and the rolling of steel rails, but there is arising an angry protest against the conditions of a life which make one free of the serene heights of thought and give him range of all intellectual countries, and keep another at the spade and the loom, year after year, that he may earn food for the day and lodging for the night.

And I saw Astel in those eyes, laughing at me, and Tacit in those eyes, proclaiming that he, not I, was the hero, and I saw the contempt of the knights, the sneers of the squires, the disdain of Stroker, everyone, all encapsulated in this one neat package.

I saw Astel in those eyes, laughing at me, and Tacit in those eyes, proclaiming that he, not I, was the hero, and I saw the contempt of the knights, the sneers of the squires, the disdain of Stroker, everyone, all encapsulated in this one neat package.

Just then Atene looked round and saw him and an expression of hatred and contempt gathered on her beautiful face.

The slothful effeminacy of the former exposed them to the contempt, the sullen ferociousness of the latter excited the aversion, of the conquerors.

It has been avidly read until Philip of Spain has earned the contempt of every upright man.

Christian benevolencethe tranquil heroism of endurance, the blameless purity, the contempt of guilty fame and of honors destructive to the human race, which, had they assumed the proud name of philosophy, would have been blazoned in his brightest words, because they own religion as their principlesink into narrow asceticism.

We may be well assured that a writer, conversant with the world, would never have ventured to expose the gods of his country to public ridicule, had they not already been the objects of secret contempt among the polished and enlightened orders of society.

A dark-eyed man in his middle years, with an old scar above his eyes and another nicking his chin, his name was Caban, and he had nothing but contempt for anyone this side of the Aryth Ocean.