contemptible - definition and synonyms

Open English WordNet

Adjective (1)

deserving of contempt or scornOpposite estimableSimilar abject, pathetic, bastardlySee also ignoble, unworthy

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Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Con·tempt′i·ble adjective

1. Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain; mean; vile; despicable. John Milton

The arguments of tyranny are ascontemptible as its force is dreadful.— Edmund Burke

2. Despised; scorned; neglected; abject. John Locke

3. Insolent; scornful; contemptuous. obsolete

If she should make tender of her love, 't is very possible he 'll scorn it; for the man... hath a contemptible spirit.— William Shakespeare

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.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54