CONTEMPTIBLE • DICTIONARY ONE.COM • Definition of Contemptible

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/kəntˈɛmptəbəl/ Listen

adjective

Contemptible adj.

Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain; mean; vile; despicable. "The arguments of tyranny are ascontemptible as its force is dreadful."

Despised; scorned; neglected; abject.

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."

Synonyms: Despicable; abject; vile; mean; base; paltry; worthless; sorry; pitiful; scurrile. See Contemptuous. 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.

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Etymology of 'Contemptible'

Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48

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"Contemptible" Quotes from Famous Books

... the right epithet to apply to parasitism? No doubt, in the human race, the idler who feeds at other people's tables is contemptible at all points; but must the animal bear the burden of the indignation inspired by our own vices? Our parasites, our scurvy parasites, live at their neighbour's expense: the animal never; and this changes the whole aspect of the question. I know of no instance, not one, excepting man, ...

— The Mason-bees • J. Henri Fabre

... friend that a question of so great magnitude to him had been decided by the last sting which he had received from an insect so contemptible as Mr. Bonteen, but he expressed the feeling as well as he knew how to express it. "Oh, I shall be with you. I know what you are going to say, and I know how good you are. But I could not stand it. Men are beginning already to say things which almost make me ...

— Phineas Finn - The Irish Member • Anthony Trollope

... iniquitous, felonious, atrocious, outrageous, shameless; worthless, mean, despicable, contemptible, abject, scurvy, ...

— Putnam's Word Book • Louis A. Flemming

... no means corresponded to the Oriental display. The French consul followed in a barouche and pair, with his attaches and attendants in carriages; but the whole were mean-looking. The French court-dress, or any court-dress, must appear contemptible in its contrast with the stateliness of this people of silks and shawls, jewelled ...

— Blackwood's Edinburgh Magazine - Volume 57, No. 352, February 1845 • Various

... he went on. "Accordingly, I'll proceed to name the men who I believe must know about this contemptible action, and notify them that they will ...

— Thurston of Orchard Valley • Harold Bindloss

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