All 7 Uses of
contempt
in
The Great Gatsby
- There was a touch of paternal contempt in it, even toward people he liked — and there were men at New Haven who had hated his guts.
p. 7.5contempt = lack of respect
- "You live in West Egg," she remarked contemptuously.
p. 11.3contemptuously = showing a lack of respect
- I knew now why her face was familiar — its pleasing contemptuous expression had looked out at me from many rotogravure pictures of the sporting life at Asheville and Hot Springs and Palm Beach.
p. 18.3
- I was on my way to get roaring drunk from sheer embarrassment when Jordan Baker came out of the house and stood at the head of the marble steps, leaning a little backward and looking with contemptuous interest down into the garden.
p. 42.6
- [Gatsby] knew women early, and since they spoiled him he became contemptuous of them,
p. 98.9 *contemptuous = disrespectful
- "Oxford, New Mexico," snorted Tom contemptuously, "or something like that."
p. 122.4contemptuously = showing a lack of respect
- He looked — and this is said in all contempt for the babbled slander of his garden — as if he had "killed a man."
p. 134.6contempt = disrespect
Definitions:
-
(1)
(contempt as in: feels contempt towards her) lack of respect for someone or something thought inferior -- often accompanied by a feeling of dislike or disgustA famous saying, "familiarity breeds contempt" comes from Aesop's fable, "The Fox and the Lion". (6th century BC)
When first the Fox saw the Lion he was terribly frightened, and ran away and hid himself in the wood. Next time however he came near the King of Beasts he stopped at a safe distance and watched him pass by. The third time they came near one another the Fox went straight up to the Lion and passed the time of day with him, asking him how his family were, and when he should have the pleasure of seeing him again; then turning his tail, he parted from the Lion without much ceremony.
The moral is traditionally, "Familiarity breeds contempt"; though an alternative moral is "Acquaintance softens prejudices." -
(2)
(contempt as in: held in contempt of court) the crime of willful disobedience to or disrespect for the authority of a court or legislative bodyFormally, this is called "contempt of court," but it is often shortened as just "contempt."