| English Dictionary |
CONTUMELIOUS
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Dictionary entry overview: What does contumelious mean?
• CONTUMELIOUS (adjective)
The adjective CONTUMELIOUS has 1 sense:
1. arrogantly insolent
Familiarity information: CONTUMELIOUS used as an adjective is very rare.
Dictionary entry details
Sense 1
Meaning:
Arrogantly insolent
Similar:
disrespectful (exhibiting lack of respect; rude and discourteous)
Derivation:
contumely (a rude expression intended to offend or hurt)
Context examples
Too often she betrayed this, by the undue vent she gave to a spiteful antipathy she had conceived against little Adele: pushing her away with some contumelious epithet if she happened to approach her; sometimes ordering her from the room, and always treating her with coldness and acrimony.
(Jane Eyre, by Charlotte Brontë)
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