despise

[dih-spahyz] /dɪˈspaɪz/
verb (used with object), despised, despising.
1.
to regard with contempt, distaste, disgust, or disdain; scorn; loathe.
Origin
1250-1300; Middle English despisen < Old French despis-, stem of despire < Latin dēspicere; see despicable
Related forms
despisable, adjective
despisableness, noun
despiser, noun
despisingly, adverb
undespised, adjective
undespising, adjective
Synonyms
contemn, detest.
Antonyms
admire.
Examples from the web for despise
  • I'm sure it is unfair to misquote even those you despise.
  • Yet, the secular world appears to despise both the message and the messengers.
  • You become what you most despise.
  • The title story brings these themes together as a lonely widower remarries a woman his children despise.
  • Monkeys not only don't listen to our music, they seemed to despise it.
  • Generally, I despise reductionary thinking.
  • He would despise my poor understanding of Philosophy anyway.
  • They're not worrying about what comes next for a man they so clearly despise.
  • Unlike the policies you set for yourself, a country is inflexible, and people despise uncertainty.
  • But you never know, she herself might know about the murdering of cetaceans and might also despise the practice.
British Dictionary definitions for despise

despise

/dɪˈspaɪz/
verb
1.
(transitive) to look down on with contempt; scorn: he despises flattery
Derived Forms
despiser, noun
Word Origin
C13: from Old French despire, from Latin dēspicere to look down, from de- + specere to look
Word Origin and History for despise
v.

c.1300, from Old French despis-, present participle stem of despire "to despise," from Latin despicere "look down on, scorn," from de- "down" (see de-) + spicere/specere "look at" (see scope (n.1)). Related: Despised; despising.