What is contempt? Meaning of the word, synonyms

What is contempt? According to the explanatory dictionaries, this word means a feeling of negative color. Disdain is also a contempt. The meaning of the word and all its semantic nuances is the topic of the article.

Morphology

What is contempt? This word consists of the following elements:

1. The root is "zren".
2. Prefixes "pre".
3. Endings "Ie".

The prefix gives the word a lexical coloring. In order to verify this, it is worthwhile to compare the meaning of such words as suspicion, review, contempt, view . The listed lexical units have a common root, but different prefixes. A prefix is a significant part of a word that changes or complements its meaning. Prefix "pre" can give a hint of elevation or improve the quality of the action. In some cases, it is close in meaning to the "through" prefix.

What is contempt? This is one of the varieties of hatred. The word denoting this emotion is formed by adding a prefix, synonymous with the "through" prefix. That is, contempt is the ability to look through or through anything. However, in the texts this word occurs in a slightly different meaning. The point is that the meaning of one or another lexical unit in the process of language development undergoes significant changes.

For example: "He looked with contempt at the other participants in the match." In this sentence, we are talking about a man who considered the capabilities of his opponents to be insignificant. On the question of what contempt is, therefore, you can answer like this: the opinion of someone or something as an object unworthy of attention.

Root words

Such tokens have a common root, but different prefixes and suffixes. Words with different prefixes were given above. Under one-root words also understand lexemes that have the same root and prefix, but are different members of speech. Examples:

1. Contempt for people at a lower social level was its characteristic feature.
2. It is customary to call despicable metal money in the general sense of this concept.
3. Disdaining weakness for himself, he collected his will into a fist and broke all past ties.
4. In all his movements and speeches there was a servility and an unpleasant desire to please, while talking about his person, he spoke exclusively in the third person, calling himself "the most disgraceful servant".
5. He could not confess his own contempt, even to himself, with his hand.
6. And after these words his eyes became even more contemptuous .

The root words are often of close importance. For example, "contempt" in meaning differs little from the word "contempt".

Synonyms

A disrespectful attitude can be directed at a person or some phenomenon (for example, contempt for weakness, wealth, prejudice). What is the semantic meaning of the concept, which is covered in this article? A stronger feeling than dislike, but less powerful than hatred, is a feeling that is commonly called the term "contempt". Synonyms for this word are contained in the examples below. In some of them, pleonasms are present. However, this is necessary to understand the stylistic and semantic difference between similar concepts. Examples:

1. He disregarded all manner of rules and regulations, of which the boss reminded him with enviable tenacity every day.
2. Father, despite his advanced age, felt disdain and contempt for sickness, setbacks and various everyday problems, and therefore continued the work begun even in the most difficult moments of his life.
3. Since this woman learned the truth, indifference and disdain for her husband settled in her soul.

Phraseology

What other examples can be cited with the word "contempt"? The phrase, the meaning of which is not determined by the meaning of each component, is called phraseology in linguistics. With the word "contempt" in colloquial speech, the expression "zero attention and a pound of contempt" occurs.

This phraseology means complete absence of any manifestations of attention, absolute indifference to a situation that, it would seem, should evoke emotions, emotional excitement. For example: "They say that if she does not pass the exam in Latin, she will be expelled, and she zero attention and a pound of contempt."

Antonyms

What feelings are the opposite of contempt? Respect, veneration, favor. In the following examples there are antonyms to the word "contempt". A sentence with this word is better to be supplemented with a lexical unit of the opposite meaning, for better understanding. Examples:

1. He felt for her a feeling that was close to goodwill , but it was an insult to him.
2. The culture of this wild people was characterized by the worship of various deities, which the conquistadors despised .
3. She treated her husband's parents, as it should, with reverence, but in five years of life in this house she deserved only silent contempt .

Charity

With this concept, "contempt" is often confused. The meaning of the word "charity", as well as its writing, is different. Unlike the structural unit of the language, the meaning and composition of which are discussed in this article, this concept has a positive coloring. Charity is care, guardianship. There is a noun, as well as other parts of speech, derived from it, mainly in classical literature.

It is worthwhile to give some examples. In the sentences there are also single-root words. Examples:

1. The wounded soldiers were left without water, food, charity.
2. " Look to the orphan" - read the inscription at the entrance to the home of the missionaries.
3. The old woman had no choice but to collect her scanty possessions and go to the " Charity House".

Examples

"Contempt" is a word that occurs primarily in fiction. In colloquial speech, it is rarely used. What definition was given to this word by classics?

Hugo called contempt slap in the distance. Writer Ann-Sophie Brahms in one of the books said that worse than him, only indifference. The modern author Begbeder believes that contempt for a once close person offends one who experiences this feeling. But not only the French talked about contempt. AS Pushkin, explaining the pathological indifference of Onegin, said that contempt is inherent in every thinking person.