Adjacent Words

Contemptible definitions

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Webster's 1828 Dictionary

CONTEMPTIBLE, a. [L.]
1. Worthy of contempt; that deserves scorn, or disdain; despicable; mean; vile. Intemperance is a contemptible vice. No plant or animal is so contemptible as not to exhibit evidence of the wonderful power and wisdom of the Creator.
The pride that leads to dueling is a contemptible passion.
2. Apt to despise; contemptuous. [Not legitimate.]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

adj
1: deserving of contempt or scorn [ant: estimable]

Merriam Webster's

adjective Date: 14th century 1. worthy of contempt 2. obsolete scornful, contemptuous • contemptibility noun • contemptibleness noun • contemptibly adverb Synonyms: contemptible, despicable, pitiable, sorry, scurvy mean arousing or deserving scorn. contemptible may imply any quality provoking scorn or a low standing in any scale of values <a contemptible liar>. despicable may imply utter worthlessness and usually suggests arousing an attitude of moral indignation <a despicable crime>. pitiable applies to what inspires mixed contempt and pity <a pitiable attempt at tragedy>. sorry may stress pitiable inadequacy or may suggest wretchedness or sordidness <this rattletrap is a sorry excuse for a car>. scurvy adds to despicable an implication of arousing disgust <a scurvy crew of hangers-on>.

Oxford Reference Dictionary

adj. deserving contempt; despicable. Derivatives: contemptibility n. contemptibly adv. Etymology: ME f. OF or LL contemptibilis (as contemn)

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Contemptible Con*tempt"i*ble, a. 1. Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain; mean; vile; despicable. --Milton. The arguments of tyranny are ascontemptible as its force is dreadful. --Burke. 2. Despised; scorned; neglected; abject. --Locke. 3. Insolent; scornful; contemptuous. [Obs.] If she should make tender of her love, 't is very possible he 'll scorn it; for the man . . . hath a contemptible spirit. --Shak. Syn: Despicable; abject; vile; mean; base; paltry; worthless; sorry; pitiful; scurrile. See Contemptuous. Usage: Contemptible, Despicable, Pitiful, Paltry. Despicable is stronger than contemptible, as despise is stronger than contemn. It implies keen disapprobation, with a mixture of anger. A man is despicable chiefly for low actions which mark his life, such as servility, baseness, or mean adulation. A man is contemptible for mean qualities which distinguish his character, especially those which show him to be weak, foolish, or worthless. Treachery is despicable, egotism is contemptible. Pitiful and paltry are applied to cases which are beneath anger, and are simply contemptible in a high degree.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

If you feel that someone or something is contemptible, you feel strong dislike and disrespect for them. (FORMAL) ...this contemptible act of violence. = despicable ADJ

Soule's Dictionary of English Synonyms

a. Despicable, vile, low, mean, base, pitiful, abject, worthless, paltry, sorry.

Moby Thesaurus

abhorrent, abject, abominable, arrant, atrocious, awful, bad, base, beastly, beggarly, below contempt, beneath contempt, blameworthy, brutal, cheap, cheesy, common, crude, crummy, debased, degraded, deplorable, depraved, despicable, detestable, dire, dirty, disgusting, dreadful, egregious, enormous, execrable, fetid, filthy, flagrant, forbidding, foul, fulsome, gaudy, gimcracky, grave, grievous, gross, hateful, heinous, horrible, horrid, ignoble, ignominious, infamous, inferior, lamentable, little, loathsome, lousy, low, low-down, lumpen, malodorous, mangy, mean, measly, mephitic, meretricious, miasmal, miasmic, miserable, monstrous, nasty, nauseating, nefarious, noisome, notorious, noxious, objectionable, obnoxious, obscene, odious, offensive, outcast, outrageous, paltry, pathetic, petty, pitiable, pitiful, poky, poor, rank, rebarbative, regrettable, repellent, reprehensible, reptilian, repugnant, repulsive, revolting, rotten, rubbishy, sad, scabby, scandalous, schlock, scrubby, scruffy, scummy, scurvy, scuzzy, shabby, shameful, shocking, shoddy, sickening, small, sordid, sorry, squalid, stinking, terrible, too bad, trashy, trumpery, two-for-a-cent, two-for-a-penny, twopenny, twopenny-halfpenny, unclean, unmentionable, unworthy, valueless, vile, villainous, woeful, worst, worthless, wretched