Cool, haughty contempt.
Cool, haughty contempt — a proud unwillingness to deal with what one takes to be beneath oneself.
Its defining note is pride and a sense of superiority: a haughty, condescending aversion toward whatever is judged unworthy. Where contempt rates the object as worthless, disdain also puts the subject's loftiness on display — a proud refusal to stoop or even take notice (“disdained to answer”). The coolest and most aloof of the trio: it withholds engagement rather than striking out, where scorn is louder and more mocking. Cooler and more status-tinged than visceral disgust.
Mid-14c., from Old French desdeignier “to scorn,” from des- “opposite of” + deignier “treat as worthy,” from Latin dignari “to deem worthy,” from dignus “worthy.” Literally “to treat as un-worthy.”
Both noun and verb enter in the 14c. with essentially the modern meaning (“contempt mingled with aversion”); no major reversal is recorded. An early-modern shortened variant sdain/sdainful existed but is obsolete. No reliable recent-generation shift.