Meanings
present singular third person despises · participle present despising · participle past despised · past despised · alternative obsolete dispise
- To regard with contempt or scorn.
Near-synonym: hate
2 more examples
Katie despised video games because she saw them as a trashy, boring waste of time.
James still despises his brother for the time he pushed him out of a tree during their childhood.
Synonyms: contemn, disdain, scorn, hate · Antonyms: admire, cherish, honor, respect, treasure, esteem, honor, idolize
Synonyms & antonyms
verbTo regard with contempt or scorn.
verbTo disregard or ignore.
More synonyms by meaning
Synonym sets from Open English WordNet, CC BY 4.0.
Origin
- Latindēspicere“to look down upon, despise, scorn”
- Old Frenchdespis-
- Middle Englishdespisen
- Englishdespise
From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere (“to look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + speciō (“to look at”). Displaced native Old English forsēon.
More words from Middle English, Old French, Latin
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Afrikaans verag
- veragto regard with contempt or scorn
Ancient Greek φαυλίζω, καταφρονέω
- φαυλίζω (phaulízō)to regard with contempt or scorn
- καταφρονέω (kataphronéō)to regard with contempt or scorn
- ἐξουθενέω (exouthenéō)to disregard or ignore
Arabic اِحْتَقَرَ, أَهَانَ
- اِحْتَقَرَ (iḥtaqara)to regard with contempt or scorn
- أَهَانَ (ʔahāna)to regard with contempt or scorn
Bulgarian прези́рам
- прези́рам (prezíram)to regard with contempt or scorn
Catalan menysprear
- menysprearto regard with contempt or scorn
Chinese Mandarin 鄙薄, 鄙夷
- 鄙薄 (bǐbó)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 鄙夷 (bǐyí)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 蔑視 /蔑视 (mièshì)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 藐視 /藐视 (miǎoshì)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 輕視 /轻视 (qīngshì)to regard with contempt or scorn
Czech pohrdat, opovrhovat
- pohrdatto regard with contempt or scorn
- opovrhovatto regard with contempt or scorn
- dívat se spatrato regard with contempt or scorn
Danish foragte
- foragteto regard with contempt or scorn
Dutch verachten
- verachtento regard with contempt or scorn
Esperanto abomeni, disdegni, malestimi
- abomenito regard with contempt or scorn
- disdegni, malestimito regard with contempt or scorn
Finnish halveksia, halveksua
- halveksiato regard with contempt or scorn
- halveksuato regard with contempt or scorn
French mépriser, dédaigner
- mépriserto regard with contempt or scorn
- dédaignerto regard with contempt or scorn
German verachten
- verachtento regard with contempt or scorn
Hindi उपेक्षा करना
- उपेक्षा करना (upekṣā karnā)to regard with contempt or scorn
Hungarian lenéz, megvet
- lenézto regard with contempt or scorn
- megvetto regard with contempt or scorn
Irish fuath a bheith agat, drochmheas a bheith agat
- fuath a bheith agatto regard with contempt or scorn
- drochmheas a bheith agatto regard with contempt or scorn
Italian disprezzare
- disprezzareto regard with contempt or scorn
Japanese 蔑む, 見下す
- 蔑む (sagesumu)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 見下す (mikudasu)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 軽蔑する (keibetsu suru)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 嫌悪する (ken'o suru)to regard with contempt or scorn
Korean 경멸하다, 멸시하다
- 경멸하다 (gyeongmyeol-hada)to regard with contempt or scorn
- 멸시하다 (myeolsi-hada)to regard with contempt or scorn
Latin dēspiciō, contemnō
- dēspiciōto regard with contempt or scorn
- contemnōto regard with contempt or scorn
Māori whakahāwea, whakatakao
- whakahāweato regard with contempt or scorn
- whakatakaoto regard with contempt or scorn
- whakaparahakoto regard with contempt or scorn
- whakakurīmōrito regard with contempt or scorn
- whakamanumanuto regard with contempt or scorn
- whakarekoto regard with contempt or scorn
Persian خوار شمردن
- خوار شمردن (xwâr šemordan)to regard with contempt or scorn
Polish gardzić, pogardzać
- gardzićto regard with contempt or scorn
- pogardzaćto regard with contempt or scorn
Portuguese desprezar
- desprezarto regard with contempt or scorn
Romanian disprețui
- disprețuito regard with contempt or scorn
Russian презира́ть, презре́ть
- презира́ть (prezirátʹ)to regard with contempt or scorn
- презре́ть (prezrétʹ)to regard with contempt or scorn
- пренебрегать (prenebregatʹ)to disregard or ignore
Slovak pohŕdať, opovrhovať
- pohŕdaťto regard with contempt or scorn
- opovrhovaťto regard with contempt or scorn
Spanish despreciar, desatender
- despreciarto regard with contempt or scorn
- desatenderto disregard or ignore
- desoírto disregard or ignore
Swahili dharau
- dharauto regard with contempt or scorn
Swedish förakta
- föraktato regard with contempt or scorn
Tamil இகழ், வெறு
- இகழ் (ikaḻ)to regard with contempt or scorn
- வெறு (veṟu)to regard with contempt or scorn
Turkish hor görmek, aşağılamak
- hor görmekto regard with contempt or scorn
- aşağılamakto regard with contempt or scorn
- küçümsemekto regard with contempt or scorn
Ukrainian зневажа́ти, знева́жити
- зневажа́ти (znevažáty)to regard with contempt or scorn
- знева́жити (znevážyty)to regard with contempt or scorn
Yiddish פֿײַנט האָבן, פֿאַראַכטן
- פֿײַנט האָבן (faynt hobn)to regard with contempt or scorn
- פֿאַראַכטן (farakhtn)to regard with contempt or scorn
Rhymes & wordplay
Rhymes with despise
Anagrams
Cite this entry
despise. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despise
“despise.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despise. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “despise,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/despise.
Source: despise on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.