ADJECTIVE – deserving contempt; despicable.
DEFINITION – not worthy of respect or approval
Cite of definition – Contemptible | Definition of Contemptible by Merriam-Webster
I have come across this word from the article “The Reader As Artist” By Toni Morrison. (week #5 reading)
Quote -” Yet only if I remain attentive to its choices can I understand deeply. Sometimes the experience is profound, harrowing, beautiful; other times enraging, contemptible, unrewarding. Whatever the consequence, the practice itself is riveting. I don’t need to “like” the work; I want instead to “think” it”.
The author in this passage conveys the two types of experience she can encounter, either beautiful and profound or , unrewarding and not worthy of respect (contemptible).
Read more: https://www.oprah.com/omagazine/toni-morrison-on-reading/all#ixzz78OZQhSN0
That’s a great passage to make sure you understand, Ia–Morrison is always so profound. I want to emphasize that contemptible is worse than just not worthy of respect or approval. The definition you give above that, despicable, gets at how strong that feeling is. If I don’t respect someone or something, I can still have neutral feelings about them/it. Someone or something I find contemptible gives me much stronger negative feelings. Morrison pairs contemptible with enraging–those feelings are similar in strength.