different between supercilious vs contumelious

supercilious

English

Etymology

From Latin supercili?sus (haughty), from supercilium (eyebrow, arrogance).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /?sju?.p?(?)?s?.li.?s/
  • (US) IPA(key): /?s(j)u.p??s?.li.?s/
  • Rhymes: -?li?s

Adjective

supercilious (comparative more supercilious, superlative most supercilious)

  1. Arrogantly superior; showing contemptuous indifference; haughty.
    • Now he was a sturdy, straw haired man of thirty with a rather hard mouth and a supercilious manner.
    • 2013 May 23, Sarah Lyall, "British Leader’s Liberal Turn Sets Off a Rebellion in His Party," New York Times (retrieved 29 May 2013):
      Buffeted by criticism of his policy on Europe, battered by rebellion in the ranks over his bill to legalize same-sex marriage and wounded by the perception that he is supercilious, contemptuous and out of touch with mainstream Conservatism, Mr. Cameron earlier this week took the highly unusual step of sending a mass e-mail (or, as he called it, “a personal note”) to his party’s grass-roots members.

Synonyms

  • See also Thesaurus:arrogant

Derived terms

  • superciliously
  • superciliousness

Translations

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contumelious

English

Etymology

From Old French contumelieus, from Latin contum?li?sus (insulting; abusive), from contum?lia (affront, abuse, insult).

Pronunciation

  • (UK) IPA(key): /?k?n.tj??mi?.li.?s/
  • (US) IPA(key): /?k?n.t??mi?.li.?s/, /?k?n.tju?mi?.li.?s/

Adjective

contumelious (comparative more contumelious, superlative most contumelious)

  1. (archaic, literary) Rudely contemptuous; showing contumely; exhibiting an insolent or disdainful attitude.
    • a. 1699, William Bates, The Danger of Prosperity, 1815, The Whole Works of the Rev. W. Bates, Volume 2, page 262,
      To sin against his law, is an high affront to his majesty; but to sin against his love and benefits is more contumelious to him.
    • 1784, William Russell, The History of Modern Europe, in a Series of Letters from a Nobleman to His Son, Volume 5, 1822, New Edition, page 104,
      Such, and more contumelious, was the language of opposition in parliament, and of the pretended patriots in their private meetings, during the whole administration of sir Robert Walpole, who understood and pursued the true interests of his country, but, perhaps, without sufficiently attending to its honour.
    • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes
      The pad would not stay on Modestine’s back for half a moment. I returned it to its maker, with whom I had so contumelious a passage that the street outside was crowded from wall to wall with gossips looking on and listening.

Synonyms

  • (rudely contemptuous): disdainful, insolent

Related terms

  • contumeliousness
  • contumeliously
  • contumely

Translations

contumelious From the web:

  • what does contumacious mean
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