Meaning & use
disdainful look
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Meaning
nouncountable
an expression on someone's face that shows they feel something is beneath them or not worth respect.
Grammar: Countable: you can say 'a disdainful look' or 'disdainful looks'.
Patterns
- give someone a disdainful look
- with a disdainful look
- a disdainful look at something
She gave the cheap gift a disdainful look and put it aside.
He shot a disdainful look at the messy room.
The waiter's disdainful look made us feel unwelcome.
Word forms
| plural | disdainful looks |
|---|
Common combinations
- give someone a disdainful look
- She gave him a disdainful look when he suggested the idea.
- shoot someone a disdainful look
- He shot her a disdainful look across the table.
- with a disdainful look
- She glanced at the old car with a disdainful look.
- a disdainful look at
- The critic gave a disdainful look at the simple painting.
Synonyms and how they differ
- contemptuous look
- Stronger and more formal; it suggests open scorn, while a disdainful look can be quieter.
- scornful look
- Very close, but often suggests a more active, mocking rejection.
- dirty look
- Informal and usually shows anger or annoyance, not a sense of superiority.
Opposites
Word family
- disdain noun
- a feeling that someone or something is not worthy of respect.
- disdainful adjective
- showing disdain.
- disdainfully adverb
- in a way that shows disdain.
Commonly confused: disdainful look or distasteful?
disdainful look vs distasteful
Distasteful means unpleasant or offensive, while disdainful describes a person or look that shows scorn.
Practice
Which sentence uses 'disdainful look' correctly?
Choose one answer.
A disdainful look shows you think something is worthless. Option 1 is wrong because a delicious cake would not normally cause disdain; option 3 uses 'look' as a verb with a different meaning; option 4 makes no sense.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “disdainful look”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.