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
Relevance
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
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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.
Recent Examples of contemptuous
This is a club that had failed to lift domestic silverware for 70 years and, for more than three-quarters of Neave’s life, had displayed an almost contemptuous attitude towards knockout competitions.
—
Chris Waugh, New York Times, 16 May 2025
In contrast to contemptuous speech, treating people with dignity recognizes the inherent worth of every person and leaves space for holding people accountable by focusing on facts, actions, decisions and outcomes.
—Timothy Shriver, Twin Cities, 14 May 2025
Thomas Jefferson was contemptuous of federal power, but as president in 1803, Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2025
Yet the Administration persisted with its disobedient, if not contemptuous, behavior.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
Chris Waugh, New York Times, 16 May 2025
In contrast to contemptuous speech, treating people with dignity recognizes the inherent worth of every person and leaves space for holding people accountable by focusing on facts, actions, decisions and outcomes.
—Timothy Shriver, Twin Cities, 14 May 2025
Thomas Jefferson was contemptuous of federal power, but as president in 1803, Jefferson bought the Louisiana territory from France for $15 million.
—Chris Roemer, Baltimore Sun, 24 Apr. 2025
Yet the Administration persisted with its disobedient, if not contemptuous, behavior.
—Ruth Marcus, New Yorker, 21 Apr. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contemptuous
Adjective
-
Trump has even been disdainful or dismissive of the United States’ traditional allies, such as Mexico and Argentina.—
Christopher Sabatini,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Nov. 2017
-
Wise minds inside the Trump administration will hopefully choose to drop a suit first introduced during by a Biden administration reflexively disdainful of big.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
-
The cast gets a huge boost at midseason with the arrival of John Leguizamo, equally broadly funny and vulnerable as Dave’s disgraced former partner, and Anna Chlumsky, hilariously scornful as a law enforcement outsider who gets brought into the story’s chaos.—
Daniel Fienberg,
HollywoodReporter,
26 June 2025
-
The advisee may present herself as a supplicant but end up an aggressor, demanding and scornful.—
Merve Emre,
New Yorker,
16 June 2025
Adjective
-
Stuck a feather in his cap and called it macaroni is insulting because a macaroni was a pejorative term used to describe a fashionable man with feminine traits of 18th-century Britain.—
Kurt Snibbe,
Oc Register,
2 July 2025
-
Conversations revealed an ongoing dialogue that was not only deeply insulting to Read, but morally offensive to women broadly.—
Gemma Allen,
Forbes.com,
25 June 2025
Adjective
-
As the day goes on, Jim goes from a caricature of an arrogant male director to an oddly compelling picture of a pathetic man, moved by spite toward his ex-wife, Anita.—
Rafaela Bassili,
Vulture,
10 July 2025
-
Actor Tyler Hilton played Chris Keller, a charming but arrogant musician, on four seasons of the teen soap.—
Bryan West,
The Tennessean,
2 July 2025
Adjective
-
Deepfakes have been growing more sophisticated in recent years, in addition to being increasingly deployed for malicious purposes.—
Shannon Bond,
NPR,
10 July 2025
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
10 July 2025
Adjective
-
The notion of any return to normality feels abhorrent just now — a crass, unwelcome intrusion into private grief.—
Andy Jones,
New York Times,
6 July 2025
-
While the abhorrent actions that led Cuomo’s fall should alone be disqualifying, there’s also the matter of policy.—
Romen Borsellino,
New York Daily News,
24 June 2025
Adjective
-
Living the Values: Nothing is more disparaging for employees than having a leader who demonstrates behaviors that do not align with the organizational values, and no one seems to care.—
Tony Gambill,
Forbes.com,
24 June 2025
-
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
Adjective
-
Each of us should demand our local leaders challenge every one of the immoral and cruel state laws and the Gestapo-like raids and inhumane detainments carried out by ICE agents.—
Letters to the Editor,
The Orlando Sentinel,
15 July 2025
-
Even critics who considered his policies cruel and racist – and there were many – admitted that behind the bluster there was the charm of a true believer.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
12 July 2025
Cite this Entry
“Contemptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemptuous. Accessed 22 Jul. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share