contemn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Did not William Blake contemn reason and paint the ghost of a flea?"

From Time Magazine Archive

Fear not, dear Major Frankfort; you may pity me as unfortunate, and contemn me as weak, but you will not have occasion to condemn.

From Jasper Lyle by Ward, Harriet

It was the sort of thing that in ordinary dealing we denounce and even contemn, as the effort of unsolicited pretension to thrust itself against barred gates with immodest vigor.

From An Ambitious Woman A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar

If we contemn what others admire, we make ourselves odious; if we admire what they despise, we are equally ridiculous.

From Winterslow Essays and Characters Written There by Hazlitt, William

Vile as these motives seem, they are too near akin to the general springs of human action for us to contemn them.

From A Trip to Cuba by Howe, Julia Ward