disdain

WOTD – 19 January 2010    

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

From Old French desdeignier (modern French dédaigner).

Pronunciation

• enPR: dĭs-dān', IPA: /dɪsˈdeɪn/, X-SAMPA: /dIs"deIn/
• Rhymes: -eɪn

Noun

disdain (uncountable)

1. (uncountable) A feeling of contempt or scorn.

   The cat viewed the cheap supermarket catfood with disdain and stalked away.

   • Shakespeare

     Disdain and scorn ride sparkling in her eyes.

2. (obsolete) That which is worthy to be disdained or regarded with contempt and aversion.
   • Spenser

     Most loathsome, filthy, foul, and full of vile disdain.

3. (obsolete) The state of being despised; shame.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Shakespeare to this entry?)

Synonyms

• condescension, contempt, scorn
• See also Wikisaurus:contempt

Translations

feeling of contempt or scorn

• Armenian: արհամարհանք (hy) (arhamarhank’), քամահրանք (hy) (k’amahrank’), գոռոզություն (hy) (goṙozut’yun)
• Bulgarian: презрение (bg) (prezrenie) n, пренебрежение (bg) (prenebreženie) n
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不屑 (cmn) (bùxiè), 蔑視 (cmn), 蔑视 (cmn) (mièshì)

• Danish: despekt (da), foragt (da)
• Dutch: ongenoegen (nl), verachting (nl) f
• Finnish: halveksunta (fi) (contempt), väheksyntä (fi) (belittling)
• French: dédain (fr) m, mépris (fr) m
• German: Verachtung (de) f, Geringschätzung (de) f (disrespect), Missachtung (de) f (contempt)
• Hebrew: בוז (he) (buz)
• Italian: sdegno (it) m, disdegno (it) m, disprezzo (it) m
• Japanese: 軽蔑 (ja) (けいべつ, keibetsu), 蔑視 (ja) (べっし, besshi), 侮蔑 (ja) (ぶべつ, bubetsu)

• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: forakt (no) m

  Nynorsk: forakt (nn) f

• Polish: pogarda (pl) f
• Portuguese: desdém (pt) m, desprezo (pt) m
• Romanian: desconsiderare (ro) f, dispreț (ro) n
• Russian: презрение (ru) (prezrénije) n, пренебрежение (ru) (prenebrežénije) n
• Scottish Gaelic: tàire (gd) f, dìmeas (gd) f
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: презир (sh) m / пријезир (sh) m

  Roman: prezir (sh) m / prijezir (sh) m

• Spanish: desdén (es) m, desprecio (es) m
• Swedish: förakt (sv)

Derived terms

• disdainful

Verb

disdain (third-person singular simple present disdains, present participle disdaining, simple past and past participle disdained)

1. (transitive) To regard (someone or something) with strong contempt.
   • 2012 November 7, Matt Bai, “Winning a Second Term, Obama Will Confront Familiar Headwinds”, New York Times:

     The country’s first black president, and its first president to reach adulthood after the Vietnam War and Watergate, Mr. Obama seemed like a digital-age leader who could at last dislodge the stalemate between those who clung to the government of the Great Society, on the one hand, and those who disdained the very idea of government, on the other.

2. (intransitive, obsolete) To be indignant or offended.
   • 1526, William Tyndale, trans. Bible, Matthew XXI:

     When the chefe prestes and scribes sawe, the marveylles that he dyd [...], they desdayned, and sayde unto hym: hearest thou what these saye?

Synonyms

• contemn
• See also Wikisaurus:despise

Translations

to regard someone with strong contempt

• Armenian: արհամարհել (hy) (arhamarhel), քամահրել (hy) (k’amahrel)
• Bulgarian: презирам (bg) (preziram)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 不屑 (cmn) (bùxiè), 蔑視 (cmn), 蔑视 (cmn) (mièshì), 輕蔑 (cmn), 轻蔑 (cmn) (qīngmiè)

• Dutch: minachten (nl), versmaden (nl)
• Finnish: halveksua (fi)
• French: dédaigner (fr), mépriser (fr)
• German: verachten (de), verschmähen (de)
• Indonesian: menghina?, menganggap rendah?, merendahkan?, membenci?

• Italian: sdegnare (it), sprezzare (it), spregiare (it)
• Japanese: 軽蔑する (ja) (けいべつする, keibetsu-suru), 侮る (ja) (あなどる, anadoru), 見くびる (ja) (みくびる, mikubiru)
• Norwegian: forakte (no)
• Polish: gardzić (pl)
• Portuguese: desdenhar (pt), desprezar (pt)
• Russian: презирать (ru) (prezirát’) impf., презреть (ru) (prezrét’) pf.
• Scottish Gaelic: tàire (gd) f,
• Spanish: desdeñar (es), despreciar (es)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)