- Scorn
- Scorn Scorn (sk[^o]rn), n. [OE. scorn, scarn, scharn, OF.
escarn, escharn, eschar, of German origin; cf. OHG. skern
mockery, skern[=o]n to mock; but cf. also OF. escorner to
mock.]
1. Extreme and lofty contempt; haughty disregard; that
disdain which springs from the opinion of the utter
meanness and unworthiness of an object.
[1913 Webster]
Scorn at first makes after love the more. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
And wandered backward as in scorn, To wait an [ae]on to be born. --Emerson. [1913 Webster]
2. An act or expression of extreme contempt. [1913 Webster]
Every sullen frown and bitter scorn But fanned the fuel that too fast did burn. --Dryden. [1913 Webster]
3. An object of extreme disdain, contempt, or derision. [1913 Webster]
Thou makest us a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and a derision to them that are round about us. --Ps. xliv. 13. [1913 Webster]
{To think scorn}, to regard as worthy of scorn or contempt; to disdain. ``He thought scorn to lay hands on Mordecai alone.'' --Esther iii. 6.
{To laugh to scorn}, to deride; to make a mock of; to ridicule as contemptible. [1913 Webster]
Syn: Contempt; disdain; derision; contumely; despite; slight; dishonor; mockery. [1913 Webster]
The Collaborative International Dictionary of English. 2000.