Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun Rudeness or contempt arising from arrogance; insolence.
- noun An insolent or arrogant remark or act.
from The Century Dictionary.
- noun Insolently offensive or abusive speech; haughtiness and contempt expressed in words; overbearing or reviling language; contemptuousness; insolence.
- noun A contumelious statement or act; an exhibition of haughty contempt or insolence.
- noun Synonyms Abuse, rudeness, scorn.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English.
- noun Rudeness compounded of haughtiness and contempt; scornful insolence; despiteful treatment; disdain; contemptuousness in act or speech; disgrace.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun
Offensive andabusive language or behaviour;scorn ,insult .
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun a rude expression intended to offend or hurt
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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He wept for that which had befallen him, but kept his affair secret, so none of his foes might exult over him nor any of his friends be troubled, knowing that, if he disclosed his secret, it would bring him naught but dishonour and contumely from the folk; wherefore he said in him self,
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The etymology of the word contumely is doubtful but I am of the opinion that the derivation suggested here is not unsound.
Satyricon 2007
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The etymology of the word contumely is doubtful but I am of the opinion that the derivation suggested here is not unsound.
The Satyricon — Volume 06: Editor's Notes 20-66 Petronius Arbiter
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The etymology of the word contumely is doubtful but I am of the opinion that the derivation suggested here is not unsound.
The Satyricon — Complete 20-66 Petronius Arbiter
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That phrase was flung at them, I think, in contumely at one time, but, like many such phrases, it has been adopted.
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In recent days there has been a great deal of ill-informed comment about our Deputy Prime Minister’s penchant for the game of croquet; he has suffered obloquy and had contumely poured over him – and dried contumely is a devil to brush off one’s jacket.
The Bonkers Code 2006
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The Vicomte called the contumely heaped on his father's name and his own, "a disagreeable scene."
The Son of Monte-Cristo Jules Lermina 1877
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In this part of the country are to be found that race of persons known to the original natives as _Gavaches_: the word is one of contempt, taken from the Spanish; and the habit of treating these people with contumely, which is not even yet entirely worn out, comes from an early time: that is to say, so long ago as 1526; at which period a great part of the population on the banks of the Drot, and round La Réole and
Béarn and the Pyrenees A Legendary Tour to the Country of Henri Quatre Louisa Stuart Costello 1834
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Bonus points for dragging much-neglected "contumely" out of retirement, but otherwise it's babbling-as-usual over at the Pod Works.
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Maybe "contumely" would be a better place to start.
abbandono commented on the word contumely
As a general rule, if the word appears in Hamlet, it deserves a comeback.
December 4, 2006
brtom commented on the word contumely
-- It was the speech, mark you, the professor said, of a finished orator, full of courteous haughtiness and pouring in chastened diction, I will not say the vials of his wrath but pouring the proud man's contumely upon the new movement.
Joyce, Ulysses, 7
January 2, 2007
jmjarmstrong commented on the word contumely
JM realises his contumely costume doesn’t fit anymore.
April 14, 2011
sionnach commented on the word contumely
My very first Wordie/Wordnik word!
May 20, 2011
blafferty commented on the word contumely
I had never heard this word before I heard it in a dream. In the dream, it was announced as the name of an ancient local deity at the site of an archeological excavation.
May 26, 2011
5814738 commented on the word contumely
"'Yeah, well, you thought wrong, didn't you, old son? You're nothing but a f*cking dreg, and I...' Isaac broke off from his contumely and stared in astonishment." From Perdido Street Station by China Mieville.
December 5, 2011
qms commented on the word contumely
I desperately hope and assume he
Will go before night fears consume me,
And take from the scene
His strut and his preen,
His self-praise and raging contumely.
November 18, 2018