despise

English

Alternative forms

dispise (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere, present active infinitive of dēspiciō (“I look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + speciō (“I look at”). Displaced native Old English forsēon.

Pronunciation

(UK) IPA^(key): /dɪˈspaɪz/
Audio (US) (file)
Rhymes: -aɪz

Verb

despise (third-person singular simple present despises, present participle despising, simple past and past participle despised)

To regard with contempt or scorn.
James still despises his brother for the time he pushed him out of a tree during their childhood.
To disregard or ignore.

Synonyms

contemn
disdain
scorn
See also Thesaurus:despise

Antonyms

admire
cherish
honor
respect
treasure

Derived terms

despisal
despicable

Related terms

despect
despection

Translations

to regard with contempt or scorn

Afrikaans: verag
Arabic: اِحْتَقَرَ‎ (iḥtaqara), أَهَانَ‎ (ʾahāna)
Belarusian: пагарджа́ць impf (pahardžácʹ)
Bulgarian: презира́м (bg) impf (prezirám)
Catalan: menysprear (ca)
Chinese:
Mandarin: 鄙薄 (zh) (bǐbó), 鄙夷 (zh) (bǐyí), 蔑視／蔑视 (zh) (mièshì), 藐視／藐视 (zh) (miǎoshì), 輕視／轻视 (zh) (qīngshì)
Czech: pohrdat (cs) impf, opovrhovat (cs) impf
Dalmatian: despreziur
Danish: foragte
Dutch: verachten (nl)
Esperanto: abomeni (eo)
Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
French: mépriser (fr), dédaigner (fr)
Galician: desprezar (gl)
German: verachten (de)
Greek:
Ancient: φαυλίζω (phaulízō), καταφρονέω (kataphronéō)
Hindi: उपेक्षा करना (upekṣā karnā)
Hungarian: lenéz (hu), megvet (hu)
Irish: fuath a bheith agat, drochmheas a bheith agat
Old Irish: do·meiccethar
Italian: disprezzare (it)
Japanese: 蔑む (ja) (sagesumu), 見下す (mikudasu), 軽蔑する (ja) (keibetsu suru), 嫌悪する (ja) (ken'o suru)
Korean: 경멸하다 (ko) (gyeongmyeol-hada), 멸시하다 (ko) (myeolsi-hada)
Latin: despiciō, contemnō
Luxembourgish: veruechten, mepriséieren
Maori: whakahāwea, whakatakao, whakaparahako, whakakurīmōri, whakamanumanu, whakareko
Old English: forsēon
Persian: خوار شمردن‎ (xwâr šemordan) (bookish)
Polish: gardzić (pl) impf, pogardzać (pl) impf
Portuguese: desprezar (pt)
Russian: презира́ть (ru) impf (prezirátʹ), презре́ть (ru) pf (prezrétʹ)
Slovak: pohŕdať impf, opovrhovať impf
Spanish: desdeñar (es)
Swahili: dharau (sw)
Swedish: förakta (sv)
Turkish: hor görmek (tr), aşağılamak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
Ukrainian: зневажа́ти (uk) impf (znevažáty), знева́жити pf (znevážyty)
Volapük: nestümön (vo)
Yiddish: פֿײַנט האָבן‎ (faynt hobn), פֿאַראַכטן‎ (farakhtn)

to disregard or ignore

Greek:
Ancient: ἐξουθενέω (exouthenéō)

Anagrams

pedesis