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more about contemptuous
contemptuous |
2 definitions found From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) [web1913]: Contemptuous \Con*temp"tu*ous\ (?; 135), a. Manifesting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful. A proud, contemptuous behavior. --Hammond. Savage invective and contemptuous sarcasm. --Macaulay. Rome . . . entertained the most contemptuous opinion of the Jews. --Atterbury. Syn: Scornful; insolent; haughty; disdainful; supercilious; insulting; contumelious. Usage: {Contemptuous}, {Contemptible}. These words from their similarity of sound, are sometimes erroneously interchanged, as when a person speaks of having ``a very contemptible opinion of another.'' Contemptible is applied to that which is the object of contempt; as contemptible conduct; acontemptible fellow. Contemptuous is applied to that which indicates contempt; as a contemptuous look a contemptuous remark; contemptuous treatment. A person, or whatever is personal, as an action an expression, a feeling, an opinion, may be either contemptuous or contemptible; a thing may be contemptible, but can not be contemptuous. From WordNet r 1.6 [wn]: contemptuous adj : expressing extreme contempt [syn: {disdainful}, {insulting}, {scornful}]
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