contempt

English

Alternative forms

cōtempt, cõtempt (obsolete)

Etymology

From Latin contemptus (“scorn”), from contemnō (“I scorn, despise”), from com- + temnō (“I despise”). Displaced native Old English forsewennes.

Pronunciation

IPA^(key): /kənˈtɛmpt/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -ɛmpt

Noun

contempt (countable and uncountable, plural contempts)

(uncountable) The state or act of contemning; the feeling or attitude of regarding someone or something as inferior, base, or worthless; scorn, disdain.
- 1918, W[illiam] B[abington] Maxwell, chapter XIII, in The Mirror and the Lamp, Indianapolis, Ind.: The Bobbs-Merrill Company, OCLC 4293071:
  And Vickers launched forth into a tirade very different from his platform utterances. He spoke with extreme contempt of the dense stupidity exhibited on all occasions by the working classes. He said that if you wanted to do anything for them, you must rule them, not pamper them.
The state of being despised or dishonored; disgrace.
(law) Open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority of a court of law or legislative body.
- 2021 October 19, Luke Broadwater, “House Panel Recommends Contempt Charge Against Bannon”, in The New York Times‎, ISSN 0362-4331:
  The panel voted unanimously on Tuesday to recommend charging Mr. [Stephen K.] Bannon with criminal contempt of Congress for defying its subpoena, sending the issue to the House.

Synonyms

See Thesaurus:contempt

Antonyms

See Thesaurus:contempt

Derived terms

Terms derived from contempt (noun)

contemptible
contempt of Congress
contempt of cop
contempt of court
contempt of Parliament
contemptuous
familiarity breeds contempt
hold in contempt
self-contempt

Related terms

contemn
contemptible
contemptuous

Translations

a feeling or attitude

Arabic: اِحْتِقَار‎ m (iḥtiqār), اِزْدِرَاء‎ m (izdirāʾ)
Belarusian: пага́рда f (pahárda)
Bulgarian: презре́ние (bg) n (prezrénie), пренебреже́ние (bg) n (prenebrežénie)
Catalan: menyspreu (ca) m
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鄙夷 (zh) (bǐyí), 鄙薄 (zh) (bǐbó), 鄙視／鄙视 (zh) (bǐshì), 輕視／轻视 (zh) (qīngshì)
Czech: opovržení (cs) n, despekt m, pohrdání n, přezírání n
Danish: foragt (da) c
Dutch: verachting (nl) f, minachting (nl) f
Finnish: halveksinta (fi), ylenkatse
French: mépris (fr) m
Galician: desprezo m
German: Verachtung (de) f
Greek: περιφρόνηση (el) f (perifrónisi), καταφρόνηση (el) f (katafrónisi)
Ancient: καταφρόνημα n (kataphrónēma), ὑπεροψία f (huperopsía)
Hebrew: בוז‎ m (buz)
Hungarian: megvetés (hu)
Icelandic: fyrirlitning (is) f
Irish: dímheas m
Italian: disprezzo (it) m
Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (keibetsu), 軽侮 (ja) (keibu), 侮蔑 (ja) (bubetsu)
Korean: 경멸 (ko) (gyeongmyeol)
Latin: contemptus m, dēspectiō f, fastus m
Malayalam: പുച്‌ഛം (puc‌chaṃ)
Old English: forsewennes f
Persian: تحقیر‎ (fa) (tahqir)
Plautdietsch: Ve'achtunk f
Polish: pogarda (pl) f, lekceważenie (pl) n
Portuguese: desprezo (pt) m, desdém (pt) m, contempto m
Romanian: dispreț (ro) n
Russian: презре́ние (ru) n (prezrénije), пренебреже́ние (ru) n (prenebrežénije)
Serbo-Croatian:
Roman: nadmenost (sh) f, nadutost (sh) f, prezrivost (sh) f, prezir (sh) m
Spanish: desprecio (es) m, desdén (es) m
Swedish: missnöje (sv) n, misshag (sv), förakt (sv) n, avsmak (sv) c
Turkish: küçümsemek (tr)
Ukrainian: прези́рство (uk) (prezýrstvo), не́хтування (néxtuvannja)
Volapük: nestüm (vo)
Yiddish: פֿאַראַכטונג‎ f (farakhtung)

a state of being despised or dishonored

Czech: opovržení (cs) n, ponížení n
Danish: vanære c
Finnish: kunniattomuus
German: Schande (de) f, Blamage (de) f
Greek: περιφρόνηση (el) f (perifrónisi)
Hungarian: megvetettség
Icelandic: óvirðing (is) f
Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (keibetsu)
Maori: whakahariharitaetanga, whakapu(w)hetotanga, tokorekotanga
Polish: pogarda (pl) f, lekceważenie (pl) n
Russian: позо́р (ru) m (pozór), бесче́стие (ru) n (besčéstije)
Spanish: desgracia (es) f, deshonra (es) f, vergüenza (es) f
Swedish: missaktning (sv) c
Turkish: hor görülmek

law: open disrespect or willful disobedience of the authority

Bulgarian: неуважение (bg) n (neuvaženie)
Danish: foragt (da) c, foragt for retten, (disrespect of a court of law)
Dutch: minachting (nl) f
Esperanto: kontumaco
Finnish: oikeuden halventaminen (open disrespect of a court of law)
French: outrage (fr) m
German: Mißachtung (de) f, Beamtenbeleidigung (de)
Greek: περιφρόνηση (el) f (perifrónisi)
Hungarian: figyelmen kívül hagyás, semmibevétel, semmibevevés
Icelandic: óvirðing (is) f
Maori: takahi ture
Persian: اهانت‎ (fa) (ehânat), بی‌حرمتی‎ (bihormati)
Polish: lekceważenie (pl) n, obraza (pl) f
Portuguese: desacato (pt) m
Russian: неуваже́ние (ru) n (neuvažénije)
Spanish: desacato (es) m
Tagalog: pagsuway, paglapastangan
Ukrainian: знева́га (zneváha)

The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables. See instructions at Wiktionary:Entry layout § Translations.

Translations to be checked

Ido: ^{(please verify)} des-estimo