desdeñar
Spanish, verb/desdeˈɲaɾ/
desdeñar is spelled D-E-S-D-E-Ñ-A-R (8 letters) and appears about once in every 5 million words in written Spanish, the 85,557th most frequent Spanish word form (wordfreq, 2021 data). Desdeñar is a Spanish verb meaning “to disdain, scorn, despise” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). The Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) defines it as “Tratar con desdén a alguien; tratar algo con ostensible indiferencia o menosperecio; considerar inferior algo”.
What does desdeñar mean in English?
verb
- 1
to disdain, scorn, despise
Source: English Wiktionary, Spanish section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).
How Spanish dictionaries define it
verb: 1. Tratar con desdén a alguien; tratar algo con ostensible indiferencia o menosperecio; considerar inferior algo.
The definition in the Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), in Spanish.
Source: Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.
Forms of desdeñar
- desdeño first-person present singular
- desdeñé first-person preterite singular
- desdeñado participle past
- desdeñando gerund
- desdeñada feminine participle past
- desdeñados masculine participle past
- desdeñadas feminine participle past
- desdeñas indicative informal present
- desdeñás indicative informal present
- desdeña indicative present singular
- desdeñamos first-person indicative plural
- desdeñáis indicative plural present
- desdeñan indicative plural present
- desdeñaba first-person imperfect indicative
- desdeñabas imperfect indicative second-person
- desdeñábamos first-person imperfect indicative
- desdeñabais imperfect indicative plural
- desdeñaban imperfect indicative plural
Source: English Wiktionary and Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).
How do you pronounce desdeñar?
- /desdeˈɲaɾ/
- [d̪ez.ð̞eˈɲaɾ]
- [d̪esð̞eˈɲaɾ]
Sources: English Wiktionary, Spanish Wiktionary (Wikcionario) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026); recordings from Wikimedia Commons.
English words that translate to desdeñar
Source: the translation tables of the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026.
How common is desdeñar in Spanish?
desdeñar appears about once in every 5 million words in written Spanish.
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).