spurn

[ spurn ]
See synonyms for: spurnspurnedspurning on Thesaurus.com

verb (used with object)
  1. to reject with disdain; scorn.

  2. to treat with contempt; despise.

  1. to kick or trample with the foot.

verb (used without object)
  1. to show disdain or contempt; scorn something.

noun
  1. disdainful rejection.

  2. contemptuous treatment.

  1. a kick.

Origin of spurn

1
First recorded in 1250–1300; (verb) Middle English spurnen, Old English spurnan; cognate with Old Saxon, Old High German spurnan, Old Norse sporna “to kick”; akin to Latin spernere “to put away”; (noun) Middle English: “a kick, contemptuous stroke,” derivative of the verb

synonym study For spurn

1. See refuse1.

Other words for spurn

Opposites for spurn

Other words from spurn

  • spurn·er, noun
  • out·spurn, verb (used with object)

Words Nearby spurn

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use spurn in a sentence

  • I love to feel his body alive beneath me, love to feel him spurn the ground beneath his feet.

    The Everlasting Arms | Joseph Hocking
  • The soul appears to spurn the body, and take a transient flight without its dull associate—the—the—broke down, by Jupiter!

    Newton Forster | Captain Frederick Marryat
  • She knew he would not spurn her away: he must be kind, for she loved him dearly still.

    Heart | Martin Farquhar Tupper
  • Here was a woman's revenge, to bait, to charm, to spurn; and then to outwit him!

    The Secret Witness | George Gibbs
  • "Even Borroughcliffe, cold and hardened as he appears to be by habit, would spurn at such dishonor," added Miss Howard.

    The Pilot | J. Fenimore Cooper

British Dictionary definitions for spurn

spurn

/ (spɜːn) /


verb
  1. to reject (a person or thing) with contempt

  2. (when intr, often foll by against) archaic to kick (at)

noun
  1. an instance of spurning

  2. archaic a kick or thrust

Origin of spurn

1
Old English spurnan; related to Old Norse sporna, Old High German spurnan, Latin spernere to despise, Lithuanian spiriu to kick

Derived forms of spurn

  • spurner, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012