Con*tempt"i*ble (?), a.
1. Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or
disdain; mean; vile; despicable. Milton.
The arguments of tyranny are ascontemptible
as its force is dreadful.
Burke.
2. Despised; scorned; neglected;
abject. Locke.
3. Insolent; scornful;
contemptuous. [Obs.]
If she should make tender of her love, 't is very
possible he 'll scorn it; for the man . . . hath a
contemptible spirit.
Shak.
Syn. -- Despicable; abject; vile; mean; base; paltry;
worthless; sorry; pitiful; scurrile. See Contemptuous. --
Contemptible, Despicable, Pitiful,
Paltry. Despicable is stronger than
contemptible, as despise is stronger than
contemn. It implies keen disapprobation, with a mixture of
anger. A man is despicable chiefly for low actions which
mark his life, such as servility, baseness, or mean adulation. A
man is contemptible for mean qualities which distinguish
his character, especially those which show him to be weak,
foolish, or worthless. Treachery is despicable, egotism is
contemptible. Pitiful and paltry are applied
to cases which are beneath anger, and are simply
contemptible in a high degree.
