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CONTEMPT
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I. (noun)
Sense 1
Meaning:
A willful disobedience to or disrespect for the authority of a court or legislative body
Classified under:
Nouns denoting acts or actions
Hypernyms ("contempt" is a kind of...):
disobedience; noncompliance (the failure to obey)
Domain category:
jurisprudence; law (the collection of rules imposed by authority)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contempt"):
contempt of Congress (deliberate obstruction of the operation of the federal legislative branch)
contempt of court (disrespect for the rules of a court of law)
Sense 2
Meaning:
A manner that is generally disrespectful and contemptuous
Synonyms:
contempt; disrespect
Classified under:
Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects
Hypernyms ("contempt" is a kind of...):
discourtesy; rudeness (a manner that is rude and insulting)
Derivation:
contemptuous (expressing extreme contempt)
Sense 3
Meaning:
Open disrespect for a person or thing
Synonyms:
contempt; scorn
Classified under:
Nouns denoting communicative processes and contents
Hypernyms ("contempt" is a kind of...):
discourtesy; disrespect (an expression of lack of respect)
Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "contempt"):
fleer (contempt expressed by mockery in looks or words)
leer; sneer (a facial expression of contempt or scorn; the upper lip curls)
sneer (a contemptuous or scornful remark)
Derivation:
contemptuous (expressing extreme contempt)
Sense 4
Meaning:
Lack of respect accompanied by a feeling of intense dislike
Example:
the despite in which outsiders were held is legendary
Synonyms:
contempt; despite; disdain; scorn
Classified under:
Nouns denoting feelings and emotions
Hypernyms ("contempt" is a kind of...):
dislike (a feeling of aversion or antipathy)
Derivation:
contemptuous (expressing extreme contempt)
Context examples:
You have done all this! and yet you can treat the mention of his misfortune with contempt and ridicule.
(Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen)
But I scarcely observed this; rage and hatred had at first deprived me of utterance, and I recovered only to overwhelm him with words expressive of furious detestation and contempt.
(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)
Why, look ye, Charlie, if Pitt held me in contempt he could not behave different.
(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
Also I carried the dirk in a sheath at my hip, sailor-fashion, and maintained toward Thomas Mugridge a constant attitude which was composed of equal parts of domineering, insult, and contempt.
(The Sea-Wolf, by Jack London)
And looking at them with compassion, not contempt, girls in their bloom should remember that they too may miss the blossom time.
(Little Women, by Louisa May Alcott)
Holmes snorted his contempt.
(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
The three comrades dropped behind and followed: Aylward much the lighter for having accomplished his mission, Alleyne full of wonderment at the humble bearing of so renowned a captain, and John loud with snorts and sneers, which spoke his disappointment and contempt.
(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)
This he did, and he quickly achieved for them a mighty contempt. They were soft and helpless, made much noise, and floundered around clumsily trying to accomplish by main strength what he accomplished by dexterity and cunning.
(White Fang, by Jack London)
The kindness, the unceasing kindness of Mrs. Jennings, I had repaid with ungrateful contempt. To the Middletons, to the Palmers, the Steeles, to every common acquaintance even, I had been insolent and unjust; with a heart hardened against their merits, and a temper irritated by their very attention.
(Sense and Sensibility, by Jane Austen)
In all the important preparations of the mind she was complete: being prepared for matrimony by an hatred of home, restraint, and tranquillity; by the misery of disappointed affection, and contempt of the man she was to marry.
(Mansfield Park, by Jane Austen)
