# contempt

Pronunciation: say "kuhn-TEMPT" /kənˈtɛmpt/

## Noun

1. The feeling or attitude that someone or something is inferior, base, or worthless; scorn or disdain.
   - Simple: A strong feeling that someone or something is worthless and deserves no respect.
   - _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._
2. The offense of openly disrespecting, or willfully defying, the authority of a court or legislature.
   - Simple: Refusing to obey a court or lawmakers, or showing them open disrespect, for example by shouting at a judge.
   - _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._
3. Disgrace; the condition of being held in scorn by others or stripped of honor.
   - Simple: The condition of being hated or no longer respected by other people.
   - _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._

## Other meanings

- (noun) Short for contempt factor: a setting that controls how willing a chess program is to accept a draw.

## 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.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/contempt (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).