contumelious

Etymology

From Old French contumelieus, from Latin contumēliōsus (“insulting; abusive”), from contumēlia (“affront, abuse, insult”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˌkɒn.tjʊˈmiː.li.əs/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˌkɑn.tʊˈmiː.li.əs/, /ˌkɑn.tjuˈmiː.li.əs/

Adjective

contumelious (comparative more contumelious, superlative most contumelious)

1. (archaic, literary) Rudely contemptuous; showing contumely; insolent or disdainful.
   • 1879, Robert Louis Stevenson, Travels with a Donkey in the Cévennes

     The pad would not stay on Modestine’s back for half a moment. I returned it to its maker, with whom I had so contumelious a passage that the street outside was crowded from wall to wall with gossips looking on and listening.