1
as in contemptuous
feeling or showing open dislike for someone or something regarded as undeserving of respect or concern
the actress gave the paparazzi a scornful glare before breezing on by them
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
the tenant's complaints were met with the scornful observation that he expected too much for the rent he was paying
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scornful
What price female solidarity and empowerment, after all, if the weapon of actualization is an abusive system, one that invariably draws Santosh into its clubby, scornful, vigilante mindset?
—
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Yet feeling out of place has, ironically, brought Escola even closer to their Mary Todd Lincoln, whose fear that a scornful world might keep her offstage gives the show an unexpected pathos.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024
The president has outlined a deeply misguided foreign policy vision that is distrustful of U.S. allies, scornful of international institutions, and indifferent, if not downright hostile, to the liberal international order that the United States has sustained for nearly eight decades.
—Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2018
The Masked Man provides a running commentary, sometimes scornful but sometimes sympathetic.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for scornful
Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Yet feeling out of place has, ironically, brought Escola even closer to their Mary Todd Lincoln, whose fear that a scornful world might keep her offstage gives the show an unexpected pathos.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024
The president has outlined a deeply misguided foreign policy vision that is distrustful of U.S. allies, scornful of international institutions, and indifferent, if not downright hostile, to the liberal international order that the United States has sustained for nearly eight decades.
—Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2018
The Masked Man provides a running commentary, sometimes scornful but sometimes sympathetic.
—Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
See All Example Sentences for scornful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scornful
Adjective
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Yet the Administration persisted with its disobedient, if not contemptuous, behavior.—
Ruth Marcus,
New Yorker,
21 Apr. 2025
-
According to an ancient Greek myth, all those who had fallen in love with the young man Narcissus were met with contemptuous rejection.—
Abigayle Ward,
Hartford Courant,
8 Mar. 2025
Adjective
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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
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Now, with Donald J. Trump installed in the White House, Mr. Zelensky is facing a new challenge: maintaining good relations with the country’s most critical ally and a president who has been disdainful toward him and skeptical of military aid.—
Andrew E. Kramer,
New York Times,
23 Jan. 2025
Adjective
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The idea that women need to be properly taught how to conceive a child through a government program is a particularly insulting proposal, says Reshma Saujani, the founder and CEO of Moms First.—
Stephanie McNeal,
Glamour,
22 Apr. 2025
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But in March, U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle in Tacoma, Wash., ruled for several long-serving transgender military members who say that the ban is insulting and discriminatory and that their firing would cause lasting damage to their careers and reputations.—
Mark Sherman,
Los Angeles Times,
24 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The targets of Trump’s economic aggression will accept greater hardship to preserve their dignity than American voters will for the privilege of acting like arrogant menaces.—
David Frum,
The Atlantic,
29 Apr. 2025
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This feud carries on today, with Hogan having called out Hart for being too arrogant.—
David Faris,
MSNBC Newsweek,
11 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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The ransomware attacks in question started with malicious Google Ads deployed by the threat actors.—
Davey Winder,
Forbes.com,
11 May 2025
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Tyler Chase Butler, 27, was arrested at the scene and was charged on May 6 with second-degree murder, malicious wounding and two counts of use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.—
David Matthews,
New York Daily News,
8 May 2025
Adjective
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But Church, who was profoundly affected by the 2023 Covenant school shooting in Nashville, imbues a real fear of what’s possibly around the corner in today’s cruel world.—
Joseph Hudak,
Rolling Stone,
2 May 2025
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Milano’s extensive medical history sometimes feels too cruel to detail; his only full season came as a rookie in 2017.—
Tim Graham,
New York Times,
2 May 2025
Adjective
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This subsided with unusual speed, however, as cricket fans took instead to sharing the self-deprecatory jokes coming over the border.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
22 June 2019
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Philipps has acquired her 1-million-and-growing Instagram followers through her self-deprecatory humor, raw honesty and vulnerability.—
Sonja Haller,
USA TODAY,
11 July 2018
Adjective
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Another recommendation: Attacking Trump’s character, however abhorrent critics may find it, is futile.—
Garry Kasparov,
The Atlantic,
17 Apr. 2025
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Upholding their right to speak, however painful, affirmed a core truth: An America where even the most abhorrent speech is protected by law, rather than by power or whim, is ultimately a safer America for all.—
Ari Hart,
Chicago Tribune,
15 Apr. 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scornful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scornful. Accessed 15 May. 2025.
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