to laugh to scorn
Preserved but no longer current.
Meaning · English
To treat with the utmost contempt. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head. — Ps. xxn, 7.
Era: ca. 1898 (Victorian)
Sources & notes
Reproduced from Brewer’s Dictionary of Phrase and Fable (1898 edition, public domain; archive.org, retrieved 2026-07-31; OCR text, minor errors possible). Reflects the scholarship and attitudes of its era.
Common questions
What does “to laugh to scorn” mean?
To treat with the utmost contempt. All they that see me laugh me to scorn; they shoot out the lip, they shake the head. — Ps. xxn, 7.
Is “to laugh to scorn” formal or informal?
No register label has been reviewed yet — treat it as neutral and check the usage notes above.