despise
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
to feel a strong dislike for someone or something that you think is worthless or bad.
to regard with contempt, scorn, or deep-seated moral disapproval. Transitive — always requires a direct object.
Simple“He despised the way the company treated its hardest workers.”
In context“She despised the hypocrisy of the politicians who preached austerity while living in luxury at the taxpayers' expense.”
PitfallI am despising people who lie. I despise people who lie.Despise is a stative verb; it describes a state of mind rather than an action, so it is rarely used in the continuous (-ing) form.
- 02 C2 Proficiency
to ignore something or treat it as if it is not important.
to treat as negligible or unworthy of attention; to disregard. This sense is less common in modern speech and often carries a literary tone.
Simple“The young prince was taught never to despise the advice of his elders.”
In context“In his arrogance, the general chose to despise the warnings of his scouts, leading his troops directly into a well-prepared ambush.”
From Middle English despisen, from Old French despis-, stem of despire, from Latin dēspicere (“to look down upon, despise, scorn”), from dē (“down”) + speciō (“to look at”). Displaced native Old English forsēon.
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.