Contempt is a secondary emotion (not among the original six emotions) and is a mix of the primary emotions disgust and anger. The word originated in 1393, from the Latin word contemptus meaning "scorn." It is the past participle of contemnere and from com- intens. prefix + temnere "to slight, scorn." The origin is uncertain. Contemptuous appeared in 1529.
Robert C. Solomon places contempt on the same continuum as resentment and anger, and he argues that the differences between the three is that resentment is directed toward a higher status individual; anger is directed toward an equal status individual; and contempt is directed toward a lower status individual.
Read more about Contempt: Cultural Context, Characteristics, Defining Features of Contempt, Response To Contempt
Famous quotes containing the word contempt:
“In affability there is no hatred of men, but for that very reason there is all too much contempt for men.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
“The lowest form of popular culture—lack of information, misinformation, disinformation, and a contempt for the truth or the reality of most people’s lives—has overrun real journalism. Today, ordinary Americans are being stuffed with garbage.”
—Carl Bernstein (b. 1944)
“Statesmen and beauties are very rarely sensible of the gradations of their decay; and, too sanguinely hoping to shine on in their meridian, often set with contempt and ridicule.”
—Philip Dormer Stanhope, 4th Earl Chesterfield (1694–1773)