verb
- to regard or treat as worthless; to despise or scorn
Usage: formal; literary
Examples
- The critic contemns popular fiction as mindless entertainment.
- She contemns those who abandon their principles for money.
- The aristocrat contemns the common people’s concerns.
- He contemns any suggestion that he might be wrong.
- The philosopher contemns material possessions as distractions.
- The judge contemns witnesses who lie under oath.