Con*temp"tu*ous (?; 135), a.

Manifecting or expressing contempt or disdain; scornful; haughty; insolent; disdainful.

A proud, contemptious behavior. Hammond.

Savage invectiveand contemptuous sarcasm. Macaulay.

Rome . . . entertained the most contemptuous opinion of the Jews. Atterbury.

Syn. -- Scornful; insolent; haughty; disdainful; supercilious; insulting; contumelious. -- [Contemptuous], [Contemptible]. These words, from their similarity of sound, are sometimes erroneously interchanged, as when a person speaks of having "a very contemptible opinion of another." Contemptible is applied to that which is the object of contempt; as, contemptible conduct; acontemptible fellow. Contemptuous is applied to that which indicates contempts; as, a contemptuous look; a contemptuous remark; contemptuous treatment. A person, or whatever is personal, as an action, an expression, a feeling, an opinion, may be either contemptuous or contemptible; a thing may be contemptible, but can not be contemptuous.

© [Webster 1913].

Contemptuous (definition)