despise

English

Alternative forms

• dispise (obsolete)

Etymology

From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere, present active infinitive of dēspiciō (“I look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + speciō (“I look at”). Displaced native Old English forsēon.

Pronunciation

• 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.

   Synonyms: contemn, disdain, scorn; see also Thesaurus:despise

   Antonyms: admire, cherish, honor, respect, treasure; see also Thesaurus:despise

   Hypernyms: look down on, deprecate

   Near-synonym: hate

   James still despises his brother for the time he pushed him out of a tree during their childhood.

2. To disregard or ignore.

Derived terms

• despicable
• despisal
• despisement
• despiser
• despiseworthy
• despisingly
• despisingness
• undespising

 

Related terms

• despect
• despection

Translations

to regard with contempt or scorn

• Afrikaans: verag
• Arabic: اِحْتَقَرَ (iḥtaqara), أَهَانَ (ʔahāna)
• Belarusian: пагарджа́ць impf (pahardžácʹ)
• Bulgarian: презира́м (bg) impf (prezirám)
• Catalan: menysprear (ca)
• Chinese:

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

• Czech: pohrdat (cs) impf, opovrhovat (cs) impf
• Dalmatian: despreziur
• Danish: foragte
• Dutch: verachten (nl)
• Esperanto: abomeni (eo)
• Finnish: halveksia (fi), halveksua (fi)
• French: mépriser (fr), dédaigner (fr)
• Galician: desprezar (gl)
• German: verachten (de)
• Greek:

  Ancient: φαυλίζω (phaulízō), καταφρονέω (kataphronéō)

• Hindi: उपेक्षा करना (upekṣā karnā)
• Hungarian: lenéz (hu), megvet (hu)
• Irish: fuath a bheith agat, drochmheas a bheith agat

  Old Irish: do·meiccethar

• Italian: disprezzare (it)
• Japanese: 蔑む (ja) (sagesumu), 見下す (mikudasu), 軽蔑する (ja) (keibetsu suru), 嫌悪する (ja) (ken'o suru)
• Korean: 경멸하다 (ko) (gyeongmyeol-hada), 멸시하다 (ko) (myeolsi-hada)
• Latin: despiciō, contemnō
• Luxembourgish: veruechten, mepriséieren
• Maori: whakahāwea, whakatakao, whakaparahako, whakakurīmōri, whakamanumanu, whakareko
• Old English: forsēon
• Persian: خوار شمردن (xwâr šemordan) (bookish)
• Polish: gardzić (pl) impf, pogardzać (pl) impf
• Portuguese: desprezar (pt)
• Romanian: disprețui (ro)
• Russian: презира́ть (ru) impf (prezirátʹ), презре́ть (ru) pf (prezrétʹ)
• Slovak: pohŕdať impf, opovrhovať impf
• Spanish: desdeñar (es)
• Swahili: dharau (sw)
• Swedish: förakta (sv)
• Turkish: hor görmek (tr), aşağılamak (tr), küçümsemek (tr)
• Ukrainian: зневажа́ти (uk) impf (znevažáty), знева́жити pf (znevážyty)
• Volapük: nestümön (vo)
• Yiddish: פֿײַנט האָבן (faynt hobn), פֿאַראַכטן (farakhtn)

to disregard or ignore

• Greek:

  Ancient: ἐξουθενέω (exouthenéō)

See also

• vilipend

Further reading

• “despise”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC.
• “despise”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., 1911, →OCLC.

Anagrams

• pedesis