All 4 Uses of
contemptible
in
Swann's Way
- It was too late, now, to retire, and since she must know all, so as not to seem too contemptible, too jealous and inquisitive, he called out in a careless, hearty, welcoming tone: "Please don't bother; I just happened to be passing, and saw the light.†
Chpt 3
- What I must know is whether you are indeed ... one of those contemptible creatures who are incapable of foregoing a pleasure.
Chpt 3 *contemptible = deserving no respect (worthless or of bad quality)
- But to suppose that she went to bad houses, that she abandoned herself to orgies with other women, that she led the crapulous existence of the most abject, the most contemptible of mortals—would be an insane wandering of the mind, for the realisation of which, thank heaven, the chrysanthemums that he could imagine, the daily cups of tea, the virtuous indignation left neither time nor place.†
Chpt 3
- …of all the unknown element in her life into which I would fain have plunged headlong, have undergone reincarnation, discarding my own separate existence as a thing that no longer mattered, I thought now, as of an inestimable advantage, that of this, my own, my too familiar, my contemptible existence Gilberte might one day become the humble servant, the kindly, the comforting collaborator, who in the evenings, helping me in my work, would collate for me the texts of rare pamphlets.†
Chpt 4
Definition:
-
(contemptible) very bad (deserving no respect)