The settled judgment that someone or something is beneath respect.
The settled judgment that someone or something is beneath respect — worthless or despicable.
The broadest of the “looking down” trio: the bare judgment that someone or something is beneath respect, named more as an inner feeling (and the resulting disgrace, “held in contempt”) than an outward act. Near-synonymous with disdain, but disdain adds haughty, superior aversion, where contempt foregrounds the worthlessness-judgment itself; scorn adds open mockery and indignation, where contempt can be silent. Colder and more dismissive than hot anger; more cognitive and status-inflected than visceral disgust. A blend of disgust and anger.
The feeling that someone or something is beneath respect — worthless or despicable.
Willful disobedience or disrespect toward a court or legislature.
“Contempt of court” is attested by 1719, though the idea is in the earliest uses of the word.
Late 14c., first “open disregard or disobedience” of authority, then “scorn for what is vile or worthless” (c. 1400), from Latin contemptus “scorn,” from contemnere “to despise” (com- + temnere “to slight, scorn”).
The earliest English sense was the authority/disobedience one, with the general “despising” sense developing slightly later. “Contempt of court” is attested by 1719, and the developed legal sense (with civil/criminal subtypes) is now standard. The old verb “to contempt” is archaic (the live verb is contemn). No reliable recent-generation shift.