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
Written in a joking and contemptuous tone, the tweet would take on an indescribably morbid weight just five days later, when, at the behest of Governor Cláudio Castro, the Rio de Janeiro police carried out the deadliest massacre in the country’s history.
—
Evandro Cruz Silva, The Dial, 10 Feb. 2026
We are confronted by an administration that is contemptuous of the Bill of Rights and engaged in unlawful acts of violence against us.
—Chris Mattei, Hartford Courant, 6 Feb. 2026
Thompson, meanwhile, savors every contemptuous glare and hateful retort Anna regularly supplies.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 8 Jan. 2026
All of these flaws are conveniently overlooked by the purveyors of all of these instruments and done so in a way that is contemptuous of those who would contest it or even quibble with it.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
Evandro Cruz Silva, The Dial, 10 Feb. 2026
We are confronted by an administration that is contemptuous of the Bill of Rights and engaged in unlawful acts of violence against us.
—Chris Mattei, Hartford Courant, 6 Feb. 2026
Thompson, meanwhile, savors every contemptuous glare and hateful retort Anna regularly supplies.
—Ben Travers, IndieWire, 8 Jan. 2026
All of these flaws are conveniently overlooked by the purveyors of all of these instruments and done so in a way that is contemptuous of those who would contest it or even quibble with it.
—Jim Cramer, CNBC, 30 Nov. 2025
See All Example Sentences for contemptuous
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contemptuous
Adjective
-
In real life, Natalie is detached from her children and disdainful of her spouse, prone to violent outbursts as the farm spins out of her control.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
7 Apr. 2026
-
British writers’ disdainful accounts of the Rathayatra led, metonymically, to a pejorative sense of a juggernaut as a massive crushing vehicle, which was later extrapolated to its present meaning in English usage.—
Encyclopedia Britannica,
Encyclopedia Britannica,
31 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
All the scornful gazes of my schoolmates when Doc started to pick me up from campus had been worth it.—
Literary Hub,
Literary Hub,
27 Mar. 2026
-
During the decade since Hitler took power, women married to Jewish men defied scornful social, economic and political pressure, day after day.—
Danielle Wirsansky,
The Conversation,
10 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Survivors rejected the offer, calling it insulting.—
JT Moodee Lockman,
CBS News,
7 Apr. 2026
-
The cast’s sole survivor is Jessica Hecht, who pours miraculous warmth and complexity into her faintly insulting role as Colleen, the head teller, a morally upright spinster goosed by her flirtation with Sonny and the spotlight.—
Emily Nussbaum,
New Yorker,
2 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
Notoriously arrogant comedy legend Kent Romero might first bring to mind Chevy Chase for readers, perhaps even 1980s stars like Judge Reinhold, but with his Venezuelan-American background, he was also inspired by real-life groundbreakers like Freddie Prinze.—
Lee Kelly,
PEOPLE,
12 Apr. 2026
-
As the sun and Jupiter clash, you’re cosmically protected, but arrogant behavior won’t get a pass.—
USA TODAY,
USA Today,
5 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
In worst-case scenarios, malicious code can exploit weaknesses in your phone, create backdoor access and pull in even more data without your knowledge.—
Kurt Knutsson,
FOXNews.com,
9 Apr. 2026
-
Over a four-week period starting on December 12, Black Lotus observed more than 290,000 distinct IP addresses sending at least one DNS request to the malicious APT28 DNS resolver.—
Dan Goodin,
ArsTechnica,
8 Apr. 2026
Adjective
-
What’s striking is that Torrente is an abhorrent, fascist, Francoist, machista alcoholic yet people see him right at home in politics.—
John Hopewell,
Variety,
19 Mar. 2026
-
His abhorrent behavior is sadly too common across the restaurant industry, from the finest dining to the humblest street stalls.—
Gustavo Arellano,
Los Angeles Times,
13 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
While Trump’s talk of a possible NATO pullout dates back years, the comments to The Telegraph newspaper in the U.K., published Wednesday, were among the clearest and most disparaging yet — suggesting that the fracture has deepened perhaps to a point of no return.—
Jill Lawless,
Los Angeles Times,
1 Apr. 2026
-
The irony is that Trump has been more disparaging and dismissive of the military than any other president.—
Joe Garofoli,
San Francisco Chronicle,
17 Mar. 2026
Adjective
-
Dahl’s books are fanciful and imaginative, but also dark, cynical, and mean (and, unfortunately, often reflected his real-life ugliness), spinning stories in which gruesome and unpleasant fates befell rotten kids, and adults were frequently selfish, cruel, and not to be trusted.—
Wilson Chapman,
IndieWire,
10 Apr. 2026
-
Violating that trust is both cruel and unlawful.—
DeJanay Booth-Singleton,
CBS News,
10 Apr. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Contemptuous.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contemptuous. Accessed 15 Apr. 2026.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
