contemptible vs contemptuous
Definitions
adjective
- deserving of contempt or scorn
Examples
The classics are retained as a subject in which all must qualify; and the education provided for the ordinary passman is of a contemptible, smattering kind; it is really no education at all.
To forget sb is pretty easy. Just don't see him/her, don't be a contemptible wretch.
They were well paid, as much as fourpence being given for a good cock-crower (in 'The Trial of Christ'), while the part of God was worth three and fourpence: no contemptible sums at a time when a quart of wine cost twopence and a goose threepence.
Definitions
adjective
- expressing extreme contempt
Examples
Of course the 'nester' or 'punkin roller,' as we contemptuously called the small farmer, began sifting in here and there in spite of our guns, but he was only a mosquito bite in comparison with the trouble which our cow-punchers stirred up.
He contemptuously dismissed any suggestion to the effect that the dollar was overvalued, or that its climb to record highs on a trade-weighted basis was becoming a source of economic instability.
He accepted the situation, happy in the gentle and protecting affection the girl showed him, fitfully enough, for she had, as she called it, her bad days when she used to visit her mother and remain long hours in the riverside hut, coming out as inscrutable as ever, but with a contemptuous look and a short word ready to answer any of his speeches.
