Definitions
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
- v. To regard with contempt or scorn: despised all cowards and flatterers.
- v. To dislike intensely; loathe: despised the frigid weather in January.
- v. To regard as unworthy of one's interest or concern: despised any thought of their own safety.
Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To look down upon; contemn; scorn; disdain.
- To reject; throw away.
- To look upon; contemplate.
- Synonyms Contemn, Disdain, etc. See scorn.
Wiktionary
GNU Webster's 1913
- v. To look down upon with disfavor or contempt; to contemn; to scorn; to disdain; to have a low opinion or contemptuous dislike of.
WordNet 3.0
- v. look down on with disdain
Etymologies
- From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin despicere, present active infinitive of dēspiciō ("I look down upon, despise, scorn"), from de ("down") + speciō ("I look at, behold"). (Wiktionary)
- Middle English despisen, from Old French despire, despis-, from Latin dēspicere : dē-, de- + specere, to look; see spek- in Indo-European roots. (American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition)
Examples
“Christmas Retail. and the 'plastic crap' you despise is possibly less offensive than the really costly items that media informs young minds they could should would expect.”
“Because of this, the impetus to engage in violent fantasy, even of those whom we most righteously despise, is not something to be encouraged.”
Movie Reviews: Whiteout the Inglourious Lying | Heretical Ideas Magazine
“But what I really despise is an acronym that I only recently encountered, “RoVA.””
Waldo Jaquith - Why the Democratic majority cannot dominate.
“Badawin despise all half-breeds (Arab sires and country mares),”
“Well I'd like to think this new Canada you despise is still Juno Beach-capable, without being Chinese Exclusion Act-capable.”
“People throw around the word despise when it comes to him.”
“But what I despise is the disingenuous politician who uses the war as a partisan front for his or his party’s own agenda.”
Support The Troops, The Duality Of Man « Unambiguously Ambidextrous
“The pluralism they so despise, which is vital to the success of diverse, contemporary societies, is particularly vulnerable in the age of terror.”
Alexander Downer - Speech to launch the White Paper on International Terrorism
“And so continually flying forth and returning, it weaves endless bonds between the infinitesimal and the infinite, forgetting how to despise, which is the heavenly science.”
“Reputation is power, and consequently to despise is to weaken.”
Lists
These user-created lists contain the word ‘despise’.
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hunting
crudely, unequivocal, obsolete, obscure, overtly, misdeed, shack, inherent, outcry, hefty, composed, poised and 318 more...
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GRE Barrons Wordlist
A complete Barron's Wordlist for GRE preparation. Your online flashcard replacement.
abase, abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abject, abjure and 4087 more...
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Interesting words
A list of words that are odd or words that I have looked up.
concupiscence, brize, scree, scoria, forestaff, spanaemia, valetudinarianism, distasture, pyrethrum, laudanum, gentian, bicameral and 11184 more...
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RELI - Genesis
Protagonists and relevant words in the Book of Creation (Source: King James Bible)
Laban, circumcise, beget, Esau, Rebekah, speckle, Sodom, Pharaoh, Canaanite, Canaan, Jacob, Lot and 1286 more...
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multiple meaning words
These words seem very familiar but are awfully-versatile and oftentimes serve senses exceptionally beyond people's presumptions ...
sense, serve, please, say, profile, draw, weather, bear, project, ship, profiler, tune and 140 more...
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Article's related words
reading 2 articles a week and here will reference unknown words, weekly!
fervor, belie, inure, hiatus, ambivalent, chasten, revere, despise, expurgate, edify, neologism, inchoate and 13 more...
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times words
Times words
macabre, reprisal, despise, self-reliant, wretched, contemptuous, assail, botch, congregational, hitherto, arduous, belittle and 1 more...
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English
rewarding, wit, landmark, core, soar, drop, plunge, plummet, dive, level off, rocket, peak and 110 more...
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Daily
Daily Vocab List
lull, pious, lurid, objurgate, insurgent, lewd, patio, onus, lampoon, geisha, larceny, maim and 206 more...
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my dictionary
able, abnormally, abroad, absent, abstract, acceptable, acceptance, access, accessible, accession, according to, account and 4551 more...
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supplementary
for enhancement of any English test
consanguineous, worldly, naiveté, enshroud, pernicious, prerogative, traitor, fledgling, vengeance, provision, furnish, quarrel and 94 more...
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ash
ash
abash, abate, abbreviate, abdicate, aberrant, aberration, abet, abeyance, abhor, abide, abject, abjure and 4874 more...
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_mark's list
Words I like!
( personal list, favorite words, randomness )psy, nanobot, success, smack, vibration, microcosmic, springgraph, marksmanship, estranged, homoerotic, flex, fiasco and 1695 more...
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dudu's Words
inevitable, gravel, scorched, oblivious, doze off, grate, gaunt, meritocracy, forensic accountants, proselytize, prolixity, prune and 48 more...
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[GRE] 7 Apr 2013
the words that i forgot or learnt today
slovenly, decadent, archaism, prescribe, bewilder, prone, fraternity, fascist, hatred, bestial, incendiarism, medieval and 48 more...
Tweets
Looking for tweets for despise.
jwjarvis We tend to think of the word despise as being synonymous with hate rather than as an attitude in which something is regarded as of negligible importance. Moreover, to despise also means to hold oneself above that which is unworthy. Feb 16, 2011