contumelious

WOTD - 2 January 2010    

English

Etymology

From Latin contumēliōsus (“insulting; abusive”), from contumēlia (“affront, abuse, insult”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˌkɒn.tjʊˈmiː.li.əs/
• (US) IPA: /ˌkɑn.tʊˈmiː.li.əs/, /ˌkɑn.tjuˈmiː.li.əs/

Adjective

contumelious (comparative more contumelious, superlative most contumelious)

1. (archaic, literary) Rudely contemptuous; showing contumely; insolent or disdainful.
   • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes

     The pad would not stay on Modestine’s back for half a moment. I returned it to its maker, with whom I had so contumelious a passage that the street outside was crowded from wall to wall with gossips looking on and listening.

Synonyms

• (rudely contemptuous): disdainful, insolent

Related terms

• contumeliousness
• contumeliously
• contumely

Translations

rudely contemptuous; showing contumely

Catalan: contumeliós (ca) French: insolent (fr), irrespectueux (fr), méprisant (fr), dédaigneux (fr), contempteur (fr) Irish: borb (ga)

Italian: sprezzante (it) Russian: оскорбительный (ru), дерзкий (ru) Spanish: contencioso (es) m., despreciativo (es), desdeñoso (es)