01 a. Manifesting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful.
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1.
Manifesting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful.“A proud, contemptuous behavior.” — Hammond.“Savage invective and contemptuous sarcasm.” — Macaulay.“Rome . . . entertained the most contemptuous opinion of the Jews.” — Atterbury.
Syn.
Scornful; insolent; haughty; disdainful; supercilious; insulting; contumelious.
-- Contemptuous, Contemptible. These words, from their similarity of sound, are sometimes erroneously interchanged, as when a person speaks of having “a very contemptible opinion of another.” Contemptible is applied to that which is the object of contempt; as, contemptible conduct; acontemptible fellow. Contemptuous is applied to that which indicates contempt; as, a contemptuous look; a contemptuous remark; contemptuous treatment. A person, or whatever is personal, as an action, an expression, a feeling, an opinion, may be either contemptuous or contemptible; a thing may be contemptible, but can not be contemptuous.