Standard Lemma guide

despisable

adj · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

adj

Meaning 1

Worthy to be despised.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: archaic

Examples

  • c. 1530, uncredited translator, The Dialoges of Creatures Moralysed, Dialogue 110, And forasmoche as we be so Noble of owr natyf kynde / let vs pursewe such beastis as be vyle & despisable.
  • 1821, James Fenimore Cooper, The Spy, London: G. and W.B. Whittaker, 1822, Volume 1, Chapter 11, p. 297, “but now he is nothing more than despisable, or what’s the same thing, a pedlar without house, pack, or money.”

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From Middle English despisable, from Old French.