All 4 Uses
contemptible
in
1776, by McCullough
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- Such unsoldierly conduct must grieve every good officer, and give the enemy a mean opinion of the army, as nothing shows the brave and good soldier more than in case of alarms, coolly and calmly repairing to his post, and there waiting his orders; whereas a weak curiosity at such a time makes a man look mean and contemptible.†
p. 139.8contemptible = deserving no respect (worthless or of bad quality)
- Washington had concluded his general orders for September 2 with a call for steadfastness and valor in the defense of New York: "Now is the time for every man to exert himself and make our country glorious or become contemptible."†
p. 203.2
- Indeed, in a letter to Congress written that same day, Washington portrayed much of the army as plainly "contemptible."†
p. 203.2 *
- And while it had been "the fashion in this army to treat them in the most contemptible light, they are now become a formidable enemy.†
p. 291.2
Definitions:
-
(1)
(contemptible) very bad (deserving no respect)
- (2) (meaning too rare to warrant focus)