Con-tĕmpt'ĭ-ble, a.
a. 1. Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain. “The man's intellect was contemptible.” Motley.
The arguments of tyranny are as contemptible as its force is dreadful. Burke.
Sense 2. Apt to despise; contemptuous. [Obs.]
If she should make tender of her love, 'tis very possible he'll scorn it, for the man hath a contemptible spirit. Shak.
Synonyms—Contemptuous; despicable; abject; vile; mean; base; paltry; worthless; sorry; pitiful; scurrile. See CONTEMPTUOUS.—CONTEMPTIBLE, DESPICABLE, PITIFUL, PALTRY.—Despicable is stronger than contemptible, as despise is stronger than contemn. It implies keen disapprobation, with a mixture of anger. A man is despicable chiefly for low actions which mark his life, such as servility, baseness, or mean adulation. A man is contemptible for mean qualities which distinguish his character, especially those which show him to be weak, foolish, or worthless. Treachery is despicable, egotism is contemptible. Pitiful and paltry are applied to cases which are beneath anger, and are simply contemptible in a high degree. Any thing that shows meanness or timidity is pitiful; any thing that is low, shuffling, or marked by equivocation, is paltry. Thus we speak of a pitiful excuse, a pitiful pretense, pitiful weakness; and of a paltry subterfuge, a paltry evasion, a paltry equivocation. The distinction between the two words is not, however, a marked one, and they are frequently interchanged.