contempt
Related to contempt: content, Familiarity breeds contempt
beneath contempt
Abominable. The atrocities committed by this regime are beneath contempt.
See also: beneath, contempt
familiarity breeds contempt
Repeated exposure to someone or something often creates a contentious relationship. A: "Those two teams have built up quite a rivalry over the years." B: "They play in the same division, and familiarity breeds contempt." I'm afraid it's true when they say that familiarity breeds contempt, because I've been stuck with Larry in the apartment all week, and I'm absolutely sick of him.
See also: breed, contempt
hold (someone or something) in contempt
1. In law, to find someone guilty of showing disrespect or disobedience to the judge or procedures of a court. You will stop this abusive line of questioning or I will hold you in contempt of court!
2. To regard someone or something with disdain or disrespect. He says he doesn't vote because he holds the whole political system in contempt. She has held her father in contempt ever since he refused to give his blessing to her marriage.
See also: contempt, hold
in contempt (of court)
In law, guilty of showing disrespect or disobedience to the judge or procedures of a court. You will stop this abusive line of questioning or I will hold you in contempt of court!
See also: contempt
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms.
beneath contempt
exceedingly contemptible. What you have done is beneath contempt. Your rude behavior is beneath contempt.
See also: beneath, contempt
Familiarity breeds contempt.
Prov. People do not respect someone they know well enough to know his or her faults. The movie star doesn't let anyone get to know him, because he knows that familiarity breeds contempt.
See also: breed, contempt
in contempt (of court)
showing disrespect for a judge or courtroom procedures. The bailiff ejected the lawyer who was held in contempt. The judge found the juror in contempt of court when she screamed at the attorney.
See also: contempt
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs.
familiarity breeds contempt
Long experience of someone or something can make one so aware of the faults as to be scornful. For example, Ten years at the same job and now he hates it-familiarity breeds contempt. The idea is much older, but the first recorded use of this expression was in Chaucer's Tale of Melibee (c. 1386).
See also: breed, contempt
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer.
familiarity breeds contempt
If you say that familiarity breeds contempt, you mean that if you know someone or something very well, you can easily become bored with them and stop treating them with respect. Of course, it's often true that familiarity breeds contempt, that we're attracted to those who seem so different from those we know at home. It is second-year drivers — when familiarity breeds contempt for road rules — that are the problem. Note: Other nouns are sometimes used instead of contempt. Familiarity breeds inattention. Typically, family members are so convinced they know what another family member is going to say that they don't bother to listen.
See also: breed, contempt
Collins COBUILD Idioms Dictionary, 3rd ed.
hold someone or something in contempt
consider someone or something to be unworthy of respect or attention.In formal legal contexts, holding someone in contempt means that they are judged to have committed the offence of contempt of court, i.e. they are guilty of disrespect or disobedience to the authority of a court in the administration of justice.
See also: contempt, hold, someone, something
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
beneath conˈtempt
very shameful or disgusting: Stealing the money was bad enough. Trying to get someone else blamed for it was beneath contempt.See also: beneath, contempt
familiarity breeds conˈtempt
(saying) you have little respect, liking, etc. for somebody/something that you know too well: George’s father is regarded by everyone as a great artist, but George doesn’t think he is. Familiarity breeds contempt!See also: breed, contempt
Farlex Partner Idioms Dictionary
beneath contempt
Not even worthy of despising. The word “beneath” means the same as “below” or “under” but generally has been confined to poetic and archaic locutions. The pairing with “contempt” has been a cliché since the late nineteenth century.
See also: beneath, contempt
familiarity breeds contempt
Overexposure to or knowing something or someone too thoroughly can turn liking into hostility. The idea behind this expression dates from ancient times—the Roman writer Publilius Syrus used it about 43 b.c.—and approximately twelve hundred years later Pope Innocent III repeated it, also in Latin. The first record of it in English appeared in Nicholas Udall’s translation of Erasmus’s sayings (1548): “Familiaritye bringeth contempt.” Later writers often stated it with humor or irony, notably Mark Twain in his unpublished diaries (Notebooks, ca. 1900): “Familiarity breeds contempt—and children.”
See also: breed, contempt
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer
- beneath contempt
- pin (someone or something) beneath (someone or something)
- pin beneath
- fall beneath
- fall beneath (something)
- push (someone or something) under (something)
- come under
- come under (someone or something)
- beneath
- beneath (someone or something)