disdained; disdaining; disdains
1
: to look on (someone or something) with scorn or contempt
… suburban kids, whom I disdained as uncultured rubes.—
Mark Lamster
Mark Lamster… courting the approval of people she had disdained under other conditions.—Edith Wharton
Edith Wharton… vodka is disdained by most cocktail snobs …—Will Gordon
Will Gordon… disdains working in an office …—Jeff Baker
Jeff Baker2
: to be unwilling because of disdain
—used with a following infinitive
disdained to answer their questions
Examples of disdain in a Sentence
Noun
McCarthy's indifference to accolades and his disdain for grandstanding … turned into a disdain even for being understood.
—Louis Menand, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2004
There is fierce disdain within the Pentagon for the passive U.N. peacekeepers who stood by while thousands were murdered in Bosnia's ethnic cleansing.
—Joe Klein, Time, 24 Nov. 2003
But for all its playful love of puns and cool disdain for "suits," the high-tech world is, at heart, a cruel, unforgiving place ruled by the merciless dynamics of the marketplace.
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 27 June 2002
He regarded their proposal with disdain.
I have a healthy disdain for companies that mistreat their workers.
Verb
The right eyes him [Thomas Jefferson] suspiciously as a limousine Jacobin so enamored of revolution that he once suggested we should have one every 20 years. The left disdains him as your basic race hypocrite.
—Charles Krauthammer, Time, 22 May 2000
Only in our last days on the peninsula (the arm of Antarctica that polar scientists disdain as the "Banana Belt") did we see our first frozen sea …
—Kate Ford, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 1998
His vehicle would be a form he both enjoyed and disdained—pulp fiction.
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 20 Sept. 1992
There is also evidence of epic womanizing that Mr. Schickel mentions but loftily announces that he disdains to tell us about.
—Camille Paglia, New York Times Book Review, 21 July 1991
They disdained him for being weak.
She disdained to answer their questions.
Louis Menand, New Yorker, 5 Apr. 2004
There is fierce disdain within the Pentagon for the passive U.N. peacekeepers who stood by while thousands were murdered in Bosnia's ethnic cleansing.
—Joe Klein, Time, 24 Nov. 2003
But for all its playful love of puns and cool disdain for "suits," the high-tech world is, at heart, a cruel, unforgiving place ruled by the merciless dynamics of the marketplace.
—Michiko Kakutani, New York Times, 27 June 2002
He regarded their proposal with disdain.
I have a healthy disdain for companies that mistreat their workers.
Verb
The right eyes him [Thomas Jefferson] suspiciously as a limousine Jacobin so enamored of revolution that he once suggested we should have one every 20 years. The left disdains him as your basic race hypocrite.
—Charles Krauthammer, Time, 22 May 2000
Only in our last days on the peninsula (the arm of Antarctica that polar scientists disdain as the "Banana Belt") did we see our first frozen sea …
—Kate Ford, Wall Street Journal, 12 June 1998
His vehicle would be a form he both enjoyed and disdained—pulp fiction.
—Henry Louis Gates, Jr., New York Times Book Review, 20 Sept. 1992
There is also evidence of epic womanizing that Mr. Schickel mentions but loftily announces that he disdains to tell us about.
—Camille Paglia, New York Times Book Review, 21 July 1991
They disdained him for being weak.
She disdained to answer their questions.
Recent Examples on the Web
Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Addressing the summit, Xi defended multilateralism, a concept Trump has voiced disdain towards.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025
The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
California’s Democratic establishment disdains Citizen Pratt.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disdain
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.
Noun
And yet, for all my disdain, there's a morbid lovableness to Pattinson's portrayal that manages to disarm the weary cynic that's grown with age.
—Edward Segarra, USA Today, 31 Oct. 2025
Addressing the summit, Xi defended multilateralism, a concept Trump has voiced disdain towards.
—Prashant Rao, semafor.com, 31 Oct. 2025
Verb
Simonson suggested that bartenders don’t really disdain the Bloody Mary; they just are annoyed at having to make what is almost universally considered a brunch drink after hours.
—The New York Times News Service Syndicate, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
California’s Democratic establishment disdains Citizen Pratt.
—Gary Baum, HollywoodReporter, 16 Oct. 2025
See All Example Sentences for disdain
Cite this Entry
“Disdain.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/disdain. Accessed 6 Nov. 2025.
Copy CitationKids Definition
disdain
1 of 2 noun
dis·dain
dis-ˈdān 
: a feeling of scorn for something or someone regarded as beneath oneself
disdain
2 of 2 verb1
: to look with scorn on
disdained us for being afraid
2
: to reject or refuse because of disdain
disdained to answer
Love words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share