contemptuous

comparative more contemptuous · superlative most contemptuous

1. Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.

   I don't know that guy, but he just gave me a contemptuous look.

   2 more examples

   Sir George burst into a loud fit of contemptuous laughter.

   1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “The Challenge”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume III, London: Henry Colburn, […], →OCLC, page 234

   The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.[…]Can those harmless but refined fellow-diners be the selfish cads whose gluttony and personal appearance so raised your contemptuous wrath on your arrival?

   1921, Ben Travers, chapter 5, in A Cuckoo in the Nest, Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1925, →OCLC

2. rareWorthy of contempt; contemptible.

   Rep. Noble told GCN that she, however, had deep concern "regarding the scandalous sexual exploitation and abuse of young children by adults." Noble has called on the community to "support the efforts of the Suffolk County District Attorney's office in unraveling this contemptuous situation.

   1977 December 24, Jim Marko, quoting Elaine Noble, “Committee of Outrage to Protest Arrests”, in Gay Community News, volume 5, number 25, page 1