as in abusive
marked by harsh insulting language
a well-reasoned thesis that merited more than just a scornful, contumelious response
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for contumelious
Adjective
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When his father became abusive, his mother moved them to a hotel, and later an apartment, and raised Talarico in east Austin.—
Nicole Fallert,
USA Today,
17 Feb. 2026 -
Related Stories Dunja, an unemployed teacher and single mom, is trying to reconstruct her life while coping with her abusive ex-husband Kemo, who’s in prison.—
Anna Marie de la Fuente,
Variety,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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With all of the furor over the halftime show, perhaps no one noticed two highly insulting events that directly affected the deaf audience.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
13 Feb. 2026
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The discontent was more widespread, more vociferous and more insulting this time.—
Andy Naylor,
New York Times,
9 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Their Fat Tuesday tradition is to walk through the French Quarter and admire people’s intricate and outrageous costumes.—
Sara Cline,
Los Angeles Times,
17 Feb. 2026
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It’s gotten so outrageous that companies will get rid of Nvidia to, well, hire Nvidia, since these bone-crushing hyperscalers run on Nvidia.—
Jim Cramer,
CNBC,
17 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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His night ended amid a storm of laughing students and obscene gestures.—
Los Angeles Times,
Los Angeles Times,
19 Feb. 2026
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However, that approach might convince possible free agent targets (say Green’s Bay’s Malik Willis) to look elsewhere, unless the money Miami’s offering is obscene, and far exceeds another franchise.—
Omar Kelly,
Miami Herald,
13 Feb. 2026
Adjective
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Honor is not, in Mr. Sommers’s view, without its opprobrious aspects, not least its association with violence.—
Joseph Epstein,
WSJ,
3 Aug. 2018
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Cite this Entry
“Contumelious.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/contumelious. Accessed 21 Feb. 2026.
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