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
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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
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of scornful
With the scornful wave spreading across social media, Marvel waded in to stem the tide.
—
Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
What price female solidarity and empowerment, after all, if the weapon of actualization is an abusive system, one that invariably draws Santosh into its clubby, scornful, vigilante mindset?
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Yet feeling out of place has, ironically, brought Escola even closer to their Mary Todd Lincoln, whose fear that a scornful world might keep her offstage gives the show an unexpected pathos.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024
The president has outlined a deeply misguided foreign policy vision that is distrustful of U.S. allies, scornful of international institutions, and indifferent, if not downright hostile, to the liberal international order that the United States has sustained for nearly eight decades.
—Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2018
See All Example Sentences for scornful
Thomas G. Moukawsher, Newsweek, 5 Feb. 2025
What price female solidarity and empowerment, after all, if the weapon of actualization is an abusive system, one that invariably draws Santosh into its clubby, scornful, vigilante mindset?
—Robert Abele, Los Angeles Times, 10 Jan. 2025
Yet feeling out of place has, ironically, brought Escola even closer to their Mary Todd Lincoln, whose fear that a scornful world might keep her offstage gives the show an unexpected pathos.
—Julian Lucas, The New Yorker, 2 Aug. 2024
The president has outlined a deeply misguided foreign policy vision that is distrustful of U.S. allies, scornful of international institutions, and indifferent, if not downright hostile, to the liberal international order that the United States has sustained for nearly eight decades.
—Eliot A. Cohen, Foreign Affairs, 11 Dec. 2018
See All Example Sentences for scornful
Recent Examples of Synonyms for scornful
Adjective
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That’s fine by an administration that seems basically contemptuous of the very concept of due process.—
New York Daily News Editorial Board,
New York Daily News,
31 May 2025
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Think of the public dissection of and collective sneer toward pop darlings suffering mental health crises, like Britney Spears or Lindsay Lohan, or the contemptuous treatment of Hillary Clinton during her 2016 presidential run.—
Maya Salam,
New York Times,
30 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Trump has even been disdainful or dismissive of the United States’ traditional allies, such as Mexico and Argentina.—
Christopher Sabatini,
Foreign Affairs,
8 Nov. 2017
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Wise minds inside the Trump administration will hopefully choose to drop a suit first introduced during by a Biden administration reflexively disdainful of big.—
John Tamny,
Forbes.com,
10 Apr. 2025
Adjective
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Despite the decision falling in line with White House policy, Rep. Nancy Pelosi – whose San Francisco district includes the Castro – said erasing Milk from the military is particularly insulting.—
Andy Rose,
CNN Money,
4 June 2025
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The state legislature just passed the most insulting budget and laws this state has ever seen.—
Michelle Jefferson,
Baltimore Sun,
4 June 2025
Adjective
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There is something dangerously, provocatively arrogant about his glorified gang leader looks.—
Timothy Crouse,
Rolling Stone,
9 June 2025
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The exiled poet was criticized for his arrogant attempts to influence British and American foreign policy.—
Graham Robb,
The Atlantic,
9 June 2025
Adjective
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This is the threat potential given commonalities despite seemingly different developers, and those links to malicious domains.—
Zak Doffman,
Forbes.com,
4 June 2025
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Newark Mayor Ras Baraka filed a lawsuit against interim U.S. Attorney for the District of New Jersey Alina Habba on Tuesday, accusing her of malicious prosecution over his arrest outside a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement detention facility last month.—
Alexander Mallin,
ABC News,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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This is cruel, unnecessary, and will further fan the flames of economic chaos for working families across this country.—
Adam S. Minsky,
Forbes.com,
3 June 2025
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And for every San Antonio, there is a Utah or Washington or Charlotte that can’t believe how cruel the lottery can be.—
Ira Winderman,
Sun Sentinel,
3 June 2025
Adjective
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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
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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
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The British pop quintet Idles is the band of this moment — a moment defined by an inscrutable youth culture protesting in support of abhorrent political positions or embracing styles of self-abusive depravity.—
Armond White,
National Review,
7 May 2025
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Theoretically, minimizing a grueling 162-game regular season into a single contest to determine who advances is abhorrent.—
Tim Britton,
New York Times,
30 May 2025
Cite this Entry
“Scornful.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/scornful. Accessed 18 Jun. 2025.
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