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Definition of contemptuous adjective from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

contemptuous

adjective
 
/kənˈtemptʃuəs/
 
/kənˈtemptʃuəs/
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  1. feeling or showing that you have no respect for somebody/something synonym scornful
    • She gave him a contemptuous look.
    • The company has shown a contemptuous disregard for Henry’s complaints.
    • Her voice sounded almost contemptuous.
    • contemptuous of somebody/something He was contemptuous of everything I did.
    Topics Feelingsc1
    Oxford Collocations Dictionaryverbs
    • be
    • sound
    adverb
    • utterly
    • almost
    • openly
    preposition
    • of
    See full entry
    Word Originmid 16th cent. (in the sense ‘despising law and order’): from medieval Latin contemptuosus, from Latin contemptus ‘contempt’, from contemnere, from con- (expressing intensive force) + temnere ‘despise’.
See contemptuous in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary
alloy
noun
 
 
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