despise synonyms

despise

v.

scorn, disdain, contemn, hate, look down on, look down upon, spurn, sneer at, flout, dislike, loathe, detest, abhor; see also hate 1.

despise implies a strong emotional response toward that which one looks down upon with contempt or aversion to despise a hypocrite; to scorn is to feel indignation toward or deep contempt for, often with the implication of rejection or refusal to scorn the offer of a bribe; disdain implies a haughty or arrogant contempt for what one considers beneath one's dignity to disdain flattery; contemn, chiefly a literary word, implies a vehement disapproval of a person or thing as base, vile, or despicable See also syn. study at hate.

Webster's New World Roget's A-Z Thesaurus Copyright © 1999 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
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