contumely

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

From Old French contumelie, from Latin contumēlia (“insult”), perhaps from com- + tumeō (“swell”).

For as Obedience is more acceptable to God than sacrifice; so also to set light by his Commandements, is the greatest of all contumelies. — Leviathan, Thomas Hobbes
Being one day alone with the master-cook, Ruus showed so much disobedience, and raised the anger of his superior to such a pitch, that he received chastisement severely for his contumely. — A Yacht Voyage to Norway, Denmark, and Sweden: 2nd edition, William A. Ross
Plutarch saith well to that purpose: “Surely,” saith he, “I had rather a great deal men should say there was no such man at all as Plutarch, than that they should say that there was one Plutarch that would eat his children[200] as soon as they were born,” as the poets speak of Saturn; and, as the contumely is greater towards God, so the danger is greater towards men. — Bacon's Essays, and Wisdom of the Ancients, Francis Bacon

abuse, insult, revilement, vilification

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