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Webster 1913 Edition

Noun.

[L.

contumelia

, prob. akin to

contemnere

to despise: cf. OF.

contumelie

. Cf.

Rudeness compounded of haughtiness and contempt; scornful insolence; despiteful treatment; disdain; contemptuousness in act or speech; disgrace.

The oppressor’s wrong, the proud man's

contumely

Shakespeare

Nothing aggravates tyranny so much as

contumely

Burke.

Noun.

[L., to swell.] Rudeness or reproach compounded of haughtiness and contempt; contemptuousness; insolence; contemptuous language.

The oppressors wrong; the proud mans contumely.