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spurn

Archaic Terms
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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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

To reject with contempt or disdain; to scorn or refuse haughtily; literally to kick away contemptuously, showing complete disregard or dismissal.

Detailed Definition
“Spurn” implies active, scornful rejection—spurning love, spurning offers. In poetry, it conveys wounded pride or moral judgment. The term’s sharpness mirrors contempt. Poets use it to explore how refusal defines character, where spurning reveals autonomy or arrogance, reinforcing themes of choice, honor, and the pain of dismissal in dramatic and lyrical contexts.
Example
Example in poetry:
“He spurned the crown offered by the mob,” in a heroic refusal; In Shakespeare’s Coriolanus: “You common cry of curs... whose breath I hate... / I banish you!”—a form of spurning; “She spurned flattery for truth”; “Spurn not the hand that offers help”; “The poet spurned fame for solitude”; The beggar spurned gold for dignity.
Additional Notes
“Spurn” combines physical rejection (kicking) with moral disdain; in courtly or tragic contexts, lovers or subjects “spurned” suffer deep humiliation, and the act often triggers vengeance or irreversible rupture.
Also Known As
reject scorn disdain
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