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^(key): /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.
2. To disregard or ignore.

Synonyms

• contemn
• disdain
• scorn
• See also Wikisaurus:despise

Antonyms

• honor
• respect
• revere

Derived terms

• despisal
• despicable

Related terms

• despect
• despection

Translations

to regard with contempt or scorn

• Afrikaans: verag
• Arabic: اِحْتَقَرَ ‎(iḥtaqara)
• Belarusian: пагарджаць impf ‎(pahardžácʹ)
• Bulgarian: презирам (bg) impf ‎(prezirám)
• Catalan: menysprear (ca)
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 鄙夷 (zh) ‎(bǐyí), 鄙薄 (zh) ‎(bǐbó), 藐視, 藐视 (zh) ‎(miǎoshì), 輕視, 轻视 (zh) ‎(qīngshì)

• Czech: pohrdat impf, opovrhovat (cs) impf
• Dalmatian: despreziur
• Dutch: verachten (nl)
• Esperanto: abomeni (eo)
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
• French: mépriser (fr), dédaigner (fr)
• German: verachten (de)
• Hindi: उपेक्षा करना ‎(upekṣā karnā)

• Hungarian: lenéz (hu)
• Italian: disprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 蔑む (ja) ‎(sagesumu), 見下す ‎(mikudasu), 軽蔑する (ja) ‎(keibetsu suru), 軽侮する (ja) ‎(keisbu suru)
• Korean: 경멸하다 (ko) ‎(gyeongmyeol-hada), 멸시하다 (ko) ‎(myeolsi-hada)
• Latin: despicio
• Maori: whakahāwea
• Polish: gardzić (pl) impf, pogardzać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: desprezar (pt)
• Russian: презира́ть (ru) impf ‎(prezirátʹ), презре́ть (ru) pf ‎(prezrétʹ)
• Spanish: desdeñar (es)
• Swahili: dharau (sw)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)
• Turkish: hor görmek (tr), aşağılamak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: зневажати impf ‎(znevažáty)
• Volapük: nestümön (vo)
• Yiddish: פֿײַנט האָבן ‎(faynt hobn), פֿאַראַכטן ‎(farakhtn)

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