Meaning & use
despised
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“despised” is a form of “despise”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
verbtransitive
Past tense of 'despise': felt strong dislike and no respect for someone or something.
Grammar: Takes an object: She despised the way he treated people.
Patterns
- despise someone
- despise something
- despise someone for something
The workers despised the new manager for ignoring their complaints.
He despised himself for lying to his best friend.
They despised the old rules that kept them apart.
Word forms
| base form | despise |
|---|---|
| third person singular | despises |
| present participle | despising |
| past tense | despised |
| past participle | despised |
Common combinations
- despise someone for something
- She despised him for betraying her trust.
- despise the way
- Many people despise the way politicians avoid the real issues.
- despise yourself
- He despised himself for not speaking up.
Synonyms and how they differ
- hate
- Hate is a more general, intense emotion; despise adds a strong sense of looking down on someone as worthless or inferior.
- loathe
- Loathe is even stronger and more literary, suggesting deep disgust; despise is more about lack of respect.
- detest
- Detest means to dislike intensely, but it does not necessarily include the idea of contempt that despise often carries.
Opposites
Word family
- despicable adjective
- Deserving to be despised; very bad or shameful.
- despising verb
- Present participle of despise; the act of feeling contempt.
Commonly confused: despised or despite?
despised vs despite
Despite is a preposition meaning 'in spite of'; it looks similar but has a completely different meaning and grammar.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'despised' correctly?
Choose one answer.
'Despise' is a transitive verb, so it takes a direct object without a preposition: 'despised the way...'. Options with 'for', 'to', or 'of' are ungrammatical because they add an unnecessary preposition.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “despised”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.