Home › Glossary › Letter C

contemned

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

Want to hear it? Click the Listen button to hear the browser speak the word using text-to-speech!

The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

An archaic past form of “contemn,” meaning despised, scorned, or treated as unworthy of respect, attention, or value.

Detailed Definition
This is an older literary word meaning scorned or held in contempt. Rossetti uses it to describe the speaker’s wounded state after being judged by a man, giving the line a formal, biblical tone.
Example
Example in poetry:
“This contemned of a man” uses contemned, an archaic past participle meaning despised or scorned; The biblical phrase “despised and rejected of men” gives contempt a solemn prophetic register; Shakespeare’s speakers frequently fear being contemned by court or crowd; A contemporary poem may use contemned sparingly to make social exclusion sound formally severe and historically resonant
Additional Notes
The word "contemned" in "This contemned of a man," is archaic and not common in modern everyday English.; Found in the poem, Twice by Christina Rossetti
Also Known As
despised scorned derided rejected
Skip to main content