{
    "term": "contempt",
    "partOfSpeech": "noun",
    "ox5000": true,
    "cefr": "c1",
    "definitions": [
        {
            "senseNumber": 1,
            "definition": "the feeling that somebody/something is without value and deserves no respect at all",
            "sensetop": "with contemptbeneath contemptin contemptcontempt for somebody/something",
            "cefr": "c1",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "She looked at him with contempt.",
                    "contextForm": "with contempt"
                },
                {
                    "text": "I shall treat that suggestion with the contempt it deserves."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His treatment of his children is beneath contempt *(= so bad that it is not even worth feeling  for)*.",
                    "contextForm": "beneath contempt"
                },
                {
                    "text": "Politicians seem to be generally **held in contempt** by ordinary people.",
                    "contextForm": "in contempt"
                },
                {
                    "text": "They had shown a contempt for the values she thought important.",
                    "contextForm": "contempt for somebody/something"
                },
                {
                    "text": "His remarks betray a staggering contempt for the truth *(= are completely false)*."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He has a deep contempt for racists."
                },
                {
                    "text": "His remarks betray an utter contempt for the truth."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She looked at him with barely disguised contempt."
                },
                {
                    "text": "He did not want to risk the contempt of his fellows."
                },
                {
                    "text": "I felt nothing but contempt for her."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Feelings"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["complete", "deep", "great"],
                "verb + contempt": ["feel", "have", "hold somebody/​something in"],
                "preposition": ["contempt for", "beneath contempt", "with contempt"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 2,
            "definition": "a lack of worry or fear about rules, danger, etc.",
            "sensetop": "contempt for something",
            "cefr": "c2",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "The firefighters showed a contempt for their own safety."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She'd developed what she considered a healthy contempt for authority."
                }
            ],
            "topics": ["Feelings"],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["complete", "deep", "great"],
                "verb + contempt": ["feel", "have", "hold somebody/​something in"],
                "preposition": ["contempt for", "beneath contempt", "with contempt"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": 3,
            "definition": "the crime of refusing to obey an order made by a court; not showing respect for a court or judge",
            "sensetop": "in contempt",
            "examples": [
                {
                    "text": "He could be jailed for two years for contempt."
                },
                {
                    "text": "She was held in contempt for refusing to testify.",
                    "contextForm": "in contempt"
                }
            ],
            "collocations": {
                "adjective": ["civil", "criminal"],
                "verb + contempt": ["be held in"],
                "preposition": ["in contempt"]
            }
        },
        {
            "senseNumber": null,
            "definition": "knowing somebody/something very well may cause you to lose respect for them/it",
            "labels": "(saying)",
            "examples": []
        }
    ],
    "pronunciations": {
        "uk": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/kənˈtempt/",
                "audio": "xc/contempt/xcontempt__gb_1.mp3"
            }
        ],
        "us": [
            {
                "pronunciation": "/kənˈtempt/",
                "audio": "xc/contempt/xcontempt__us_1.mp3"
            }
        ]
    },
    "wordOrigin": "late Middle English: from Latin contemptus, from contemnere, from con- (expressing intensive force) + temnere ‘despise’."
}