Contempt Meaning: Looking Down on Someone

Contempt meaning in two senses

1. The emotion. A mix of dislike and superiority. You feel contempt when you judge someone as lower, weaker or less worthy than you. Phrases include hold someone in contempt, look at someone with contempt and beneath contempt, meaning so bad it does not even deserve scorn.
2. The legal offence. Contempt of court is behaviour that defies or insults a court's authority, such as ignoring a court order, shouting in a courtroom or publishing material that could unfairly sway a trial.

There is also an older, mostly literary sense: open disregard for a danger or rule, as in "contempt for the storm".

Contempt in sentences

• She spoke about the lazy contractor with obvious contempt.
• His contempt for rules got him suspended from the team twice.
• The judge warned the witness that refusing to answer could be treated as contempt of court.
• Mocking a junior colleague in front of clients shows contempt, not humour.
• The proverb says familiarity breeds contempt, but some old friendships grow warmer with time.

Contempt definition tip: contemptuous or contemptible?

These two adjectives are often mixed up, and they point in opposite directions.

A trick to remember: contemptible is like terrible, describing the thing that is bad. Contemptuous describes the person sneering.

Contempt next to anger, disgust and hatred

• Anger reacts to a wrong and often wants change. It can be hot and short.
• Disgust is a recoil from something gross or morally sickening.
• Hatred is long-lasting hostility and wish for harm.
• Contempt adds a sense of superiority. The other person is not just wrong but small.

Relationship researchers often describe contempt, shown through sarcasm, mockery and eye-rolling, as one of the most damaging habits in a couple or a team, because it attacks a person's worth rather than a problem. Related pages include condescending, resentment and animosity.

Contempt of court explained

Courts need their orders followed, so most legal systems allow judges to punish contempt. Many systems split it into two kinds. Civil contempt usually means failing to obey an order, such as not paying ordered support or not handing over documents, and the penalty often ends once the person complies. Criminal contempt punishes acts that insult the court or block justice, such as disrupting a hearing. In India, the Contempt of Courts Act, 1971 sets out civil and criminal contempt in a similar way.

Contempt meaning in the Bible

Biblical writers treat contempt as a sign of pride and a cause of shame. Proverbs 18:3 links the arrival of wickedness with the arrival of contempt. The Psalms include prayers from people who feel crushed by the scorn of the proud, as in Psalm 123. Daniel 12:2 speaks of some rising to everlasting life and others to shame and everlasting contempt. In the Sermon on the Mount, Matthew 5:22 warns against insulting a brother with words of scorn, treating contempt as a heart problem and not just rude speech. Many Christian teachers read these passages as a call to humility and honour for others.

What is the definition of contempt by origin and grammar?

English has used contempt since roughly the fourteenth century, taking it from Latin contemptus, from the verb contemnere, to scorn. The related verb contemn, meaning to treat with scorn, survives mainly in formal writing.

Contempt is usually uncountable: say a look of contempt or full of contempt, not "a contempt". It pairs with for: contempt for authority, contempt for the poor. Browse neighbouring emotion words through the feelings hub.