despise

English

Etymology

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”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /dɪˈspaɪz/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -aɪz

Verb

despise (third-person singular simple present despises, present participle despising, simple past and past participle despised)

1. To regard with contempt or scorn.

Synonyms

• scorn
• See also Wikisaurus:despise

Antonyms

• respect
• revere

Derived terms

• despisal
• despicable

Related terms

• despect
• despection

Translations

to regard with contempt or scorn

• Afrikaans: verag (af)
• Arabic: احتقر (ar) (iHtaqara)
• Bulgarian: презирам (bg) (preziram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 藐視 (cmn), 藐视 (cmn) (miǎoshì), 輕視 (cmn), 轻视 (cmn) (qīngshì)

• Czech: pohrdat (cs), opovrhovat (cs)
• Dalmatian: despreziur
• Dutch: verachten (nl)
• Esperanto: abomeni (eo)
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
• French: dédaigner (fr)
• German: verachten (de)

• Hindi: tusch lekhana dwesh karna
• Hungarian: lenéz (hu)
• Italian: disprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 軽蔑する (ja) (keibetsu-suru), 軽視する (ja) (keishi-suru)
• Korean: 괄시
• Portuguese: desprezar (pt)
• Russian: презирать (ru) (prezirát') 
• Spanish: desdeñar (es)
• Swahili: dharau (sw)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)
• Turkish: hor görmek (tr), aşağılamak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
• Volapük: nestümön (vo)

See also

• vilipend

External links

• despise in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, G. & C. Merriam, 1913
• despise in The Century Dictionary, The Century Co., New York, 1911