contemn

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

"Did not William Blake contemn reason and paint the ghost of a flea?"

From Time Magazine Archive

One does not contemn Calne on account of its misfortunes, but it must always have been a slipshod place.

From The Bath Road History, Fashion, & Frivolity on an Old Highway by Harper, Charles G. (Charles George)

Young man, there is a mysterious system of ethics which the world understands not—the reputed wise, subtleize it, and the vainly wicked contemn and despise it.

From The Cavaliers of Virginia or, The Recluse of Jamestown. Vol. II by Caruthers, William A. (Alexander)

It was the sort of thing that in ordinary dealing we denounce and even contemn, as the effort of unsolicited pretension to thrust itself against barred gates with immodest vigor.

From An Ambitious Woman A Novel by Fawcett, Edgar

Crafty men contemn them, wise men use them, simple men admire them; for they teach not their own use, but that there is a wisdom without them and above them won by observation.

From The World's Best Books : A Key to the Treasures of Literature by Parsons, Frank