Word of the Day: CONTEMPTUOUS

con·temp·tu·ous

adjective \kən-ˈtem(p)-chə-wəs, -chəs, -shwəs, -chü-əs\

: feeling or showing deep hatred or disapproval : feeling or showing contempt

: manifesting, feeling, or expressing deep hatred or disapproval : feeling or showing contempt

— con·temp·tu·ous·ly adverb

— con·temp·tu·ous·ness noun

<loutish tourists who are contemptuous of the ways and traditions of their host countries>
<contemptuous comments about the baseball team’s pathetic showings>
He owned a fine Kentucky rifle, with a cherry wood stock, and was contemptuous of the bulky carbines most of the troop had adopted. —Larry McMurtry, Dead Man’s Walk, 1995
He felt familiar enough to indulge in outbursts of rage or contemptuous sarcasm in her presence, and to display the most withering side of his character, lashing out at the people he despised. —Cynthia Ozick, New Yorker, 20 Nov. 1989
In his 1978 Harvard commencement address, Mr. Solzhenitsyn seemed at times contemptuous of American democracy … —Daniel Patrick Moynihan, New York Times Book Review, 24 Nov. 1991

Latin contemptus (see contempt)

First Known Use: 1574