1
as in contemptuous
feeling or showing open dislike for someone or something regarded as undeserving of respect or concern
the actress gave the paparazzi a scornful glare before breezing on by them
Synonyms & Similar Words
Relevance
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in slighting
intended to make a person or thing seem of little importance or value
the tenant's complaints were met with the scornful observation that he expected too much for the rent he was paying
Synonyms & Similar Words
Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to
show current usage.
Read More
Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors.
Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of scornful
The Masked Man provides a running commentary, sometimes scornful but sometimes sympathetic.
—
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
Presiding over all this, white-haired, scornful and more than usually vicious, is McKellen’s self-serving, nakedly villainous Falstaff.
—David Benedict, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
Screenshots and copies of the complaint spread far and wide became fodder for the already overwhelming fire of scornful messages and posts towards the women, a lawyer for one of the women says.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024
Some of the exhibits were simply embarrassing, such as scornful behind-the-scenes opinions about Trump, whose supporters form the core of the network’s viewers.
—David Bauder, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for scornful 
Mary Ann Grossmann, Twin Cities, 12 May 2024
Presiding over all this, white-haired, scornful and more than usually vicious, is McKellen’s self-serving, nakedly villainous Falstaff.
—David Benedict, Variety, 12 Apr. 2024
Screenshots and copies of the complaint spread far and wide became fodder for the already overwhelming fire of scornful messages and posts towards the women, a lawyer for one of the women says.
—Kinsey Crowley, USA TODAY, 24 Mar. 2024
Some of the exhibits were simply embarrassing, such as scornful behind-the-scenes opinions about Trump, whose supporters form the core of the network’s viewers.
—David Bauder, Fortune, 18 Apr. 2023
See all Example Sentences for scornful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scornful
Adjective
-
The arguments Republicans have made in their opposition to Joe Biden’s contemptuous pardons are pretty compelling.—
Noah Rothman,
National Review,
21 Jan. 2025
-
Written by Fielding, Richard Naylor and Jon Brittain, the series followed the contemptuous life of the 18th-century highwayman, known in York, England, as a thief, poacher and killer but whose exploits have been widely romanticized in modern culture.—
Lily Ford,
The Hollywood Reporter,
16 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
President-Elect Donald Trump is openly disdainful of many governments in Europe and seems willing to walk away from America’s role as the continent’s protector.—
Phillips Payson O’Brien,
The Atlantic,
13 Jan. 2025
-
Now, the norms for AI will emerge in a political and cultural environment that's hostile to regulation and disdainful of limits.—
Scott Rosenberg,
Axios,
8 Jan. 2025
Adjective
-
The crude and insulting attacks Democratic lawmakers have leveled at President Donald Trump and Elon Musk threaten to drive away voters who want the party to work with the new president to cut wasteful spending.—
Paul Bedard,
Washington Examiner - Political News and Conservative Analysis About Congress, the President, and the Federal Government,
12 Feb. 2025
-
The positive media coverage of Thomas was the insulting cherry on top of the situation for Estabrook.—
Jackson Thompson,
Fox News,
12 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Saxon, for instance, is filling the same spoiled, arrogant space as Jake Lacy’s Shane from Season One.—
Alan Sepinwall,
Rolling Stone,
11 Feb. 2025
-
From director James Ashcroft (Coming Home in the Dark), who co-wrote the script with Eli Kent, The Rule of Jenny Pen centers on arrogant judge Stefan Mortensen (Rush), who has to live in a retirement home after a near-fatal stroke leaves him partially paralyzed.—
Sydney Bucksbaum,
EW.com,
3 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
The best way to safeguard yourself from malicious links that install malware, potentially accessing your private information, is to have antivirus software installed on all your devices.—
Kurt Knutsson, CyberGuy Report,
Fox News,
15 Feb. 2025
-
Maloof is suing the city of Palm Bay, the Palm Bay Police Department and the officer on claims including malicious prosecution and false arrest.—
Julia Marnin,
Miami Herald,
12 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
Immigrant advocates call those moves cruel and unnecessary.—
Joel Rose,
NPR,
8 Feb. 2025
-
The current government’s purposeful misrepresentation and defamation of DEI in such a comprehensively cruel and malicious manner deserves nothing less than personal and communal outrage and resistance.—
Dr. Tony Lux,
Chicago Tribune,
8 Feb. 2025
Adjective
-
This subsided with unusual speed, however, as cricket fans took instead to sharing the self-deprecatory jokes coming over the border.—
The Economist,
The Economist,
22 June 2019
-
Philipps has acquired her 1-million-and-growing Instagram followers through her self-deprecatory humor, raw honesty and vulnerability.—
Sonja Haller,
USA TODAY,
11 July 2018
Adjective
-
These abhorrent behaviors and actions are the standard modus operandi for the head of the Republican party.—
Contributed Content,
Twin Cities,
6 Feb. 2025
-
My family attended an evangelical church that believed in Hell in a way that would have been intelligible, if abhorrent, to the medieval Catholic Dante.—
Elisa Gonzalez,
The New Yorker,
3 Feb. 2025
Thesaurus Entries Near scornful
Cite this Entry
“Scornful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scornful. Accessed 21 Feb. 2025.
Copy CitationLove words? Need even more definitions?
Merriam-Webster unabridged
Share