contemn means to disdain; to value at little or nothing; to treat or regard with contempt. It carries an Arena rating of 1457, earned across 7 head-to-head judged battles.
Among words judged in Lexicurio's Arena, contemn ranks #1,519 of 17,126 for Most Elegant Words, #1,736 of 17,132 for Most Betrayed by Its Sound, #3,590 of 17,131 for Scariest Words, #4,758 of 17,151 for The Improbable.
contemn is pronounced /kənˈtɛm/.
Why “contemn” is a great word
To regard or treat something with profound scorn, viewing it as beneath consideration. From Middle English *contempnen*, from Old French *contemner*, from Latin *contemnere* ("to scorn, despise"), from *con-* (intensive) + *temnere* ("to despise"). Unlike "condemn," which pronounces a sentence or moral judgment, or "despise," which is an intimate, emotional loathing, to contemn is an act of haughty dismissal, a cool verdict of unworthiness. It is the curled lip of a scholar for a popular theory, the deliberate silence in response to a groveling plea, the archivist’s gloved hand discarding a poorly sourced document into the furnace—the quiet, devastating conviction that a thing does not even merit one’s anger, but only its own perfect irrelevance.
Etymology
From Middle English contempnen, from Old French contemner, from Latin contemnō (“to scorn”). See also contempt.
verb
- To disdain; to value at little or nothing; to treat or regard with contempt.
- To commit an offence of contempt, such as contempt of court; to unlawfully flout (e.g. a ruling).
Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).
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