contempt
Pluralcontempts (some meanings)
- 1The feeling or attitude that someone or something is inferior, base, or worthless; scorn or disdain.
Her contempt for the committee's decision was evident in every line of her resignation letter.
He made no effort to hide the contempt he felt for office gossip.
UsageUsually contempt for someone or something. You can hold someone in contempt, treat them with contempt or speak of them with contempt.
Similarscorn, disdain, derision, disrespect, condescension
Oppositerespect, admiration, esteem, regard
Note
English took the word from Latin contemptus, “scorn,” built on temnō, “I despise,” and it displaced the native Old English forsewennes. After verbs of speaking it can take of: in W. B. Maxwell's The Mirror and the Lamp (1918), Vickers “spoke with extreme contempt of” the working classes.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- English borrowed contempt from Latin contemptus, meaning scorn, ultimately built on temnō. en.wiktionary.org
- Latin temnō means I despise. en.wiktionary.org
- Contempt displaced native Old English forsewennes. en.wiktionary.org
- W. B. Maxwell wrote The Mirror and the Lamp. en.wikisource.org
- The novel describes Vickers using the exact words spoke with extreme contempt of concerning the working classes. en.wiktionary.org
- 2The offense of openly disrespecting, or willfully defying, the authority of a court or legislature.
The witness was found in contempt after she ignored the subpoena.
The committee voted to hold the agency director in contempt for defying its document request.
UsageUsually in contempt: found or held in contempt. The offense is named for what is defied: contempt of court.
Note
Law's version concerns conduct, not feeling. Courts separate civil contempt, which coerces compliance, from criminal contempt, which punishes defiance already done. In 2021 a House panel voted to recommend charging Stephen Bannon, who had defied its subpoena, with criminal contempt of Congress.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 5 facts
- Legal contempt concerns conduct rather than merely a feeling. fjc.gov
- Courts distinguish civil contempt used to coerce compliance from criminal contempt. justice.gov
- Criminal contempt punishes disobedience already committed. fjc.gov
- In 2021 a House panel voted to recommend criminal contempt proceedings against Stephen Bannon. congress.gov
- Bannon had defied the panel's subpoena, prompting its criminal contempt recommendation. congress.gov
- 3Disgrace; the condition of being held in scorn by others or stripped of honor.
His name fell into contempt after the fraud came to light.
The court found that the false article had brought the senator into contempt and ridicule.
Similardisgrace, dishonor, disrepute, shame, ignominy
Oppositehonor, esteem, respect
Note
Here the scorn is turned around. Contempt becomes something a person suffers rather than feels, the reverse of the feeling of scorn.
Checked 2 Nov 2026 · 1 fact
- This sense denotes being despised or dishonored rather than feeling scorn. en.wiktionary.org
Less common meaning
- 4Short for contempt factor: a setting that controls how willing a chess program is to accept a draw.
Practice
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Origin
The Latin verb contemnō ("I scorn, despise"), usually explained as com- plus temnō ("I despise"), gave the noun contemptus ("scorn"), the source of this English word. It took over from the native Old English forsewennes.