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Worthy of contempt; deserving of scorn or disdain; mean; vile; despicable. Milton. The arguments of tyranny are ascontemptible as its force is dreadful. Burke.

tents of a book. I shall prove these writings . . . authentic, and the contents true, and worthy of a divine original. Grew.

Vehemence of endeavor; eagerness; ardor; zeal. An end . . . worthy our utmost contenion to obtain. Rogers.

costumes of state. Cordon bleu (kd" bl Etym: [F., blue cordon], a first-rate cook, or one worthy to be the cook of the cordons bleus, or Knights of the Holy Ghost, famous for their good dinners. -- Cordon sanitaire (kd" s Etym: [F., sanitary cordon], a line of troops or military posts around a district infected with d…

Capable of being credited or believed; worthy of belief; entiled to confidence; trustworthy. Things are made credible either by the known condition and quality of the utterer or by the manifest likelihood of truth in themselves. Hooker. A very diligent and observing person, and likewise very sober and credible. Dampier…

Worthy of belief. [Obs.] Divers creditable witnesses deposed. Ludlow.

rbarous deed; inhuman treatment; the act of willfully causing unnecessary pain. Cruelties worthy of the dungeons of the Inquisition. Macualay.

Deserving censure; worthy of blame; faulty; immoral; criminal. State Trials (1413). If he acts according to the best reason he hath, he is not culpable, though he be mistaken in his measures. Sharp.

To set free from (something injurious or blameworthy), as from a bad habit. I never knew any man cured of inattention. Swift.

erest or self-indulgence, and that appearances to the contrary are superficial and untrustworthy. He could obtain from one morose cynic, whose opinion it was impossible to despise, scarcely any not acidulated with scorn. Macaulay.

Defiance; challenge. Childish, unworthy dares Are not enought to part our powers. Chapman. Sextus Pompeius Hath given the dare to Cæsar. Shak.

ormer state; having declined in worth; having lost in goodness; deteriorated; degraded; unworthy; base; low. Faint-hearted and degenerate king. Shak. A degenerate and degraded state. Milton. Degenerate from their ancient blood. Swift. These degenerate days. Pope. I had planted thee a noble vine . . . : how then art tho…

To esteem worthy; to consider worth notice; -- opposed to disdain. [Obs.] I fear my Julia would not deign my lines. Shak.

rals; to destroy or lessen the effect of moral principles on; to render corrupt or untrustworthy in morals, in discipline, in courage, spirit, etc.; to weaken in spirit or efficiency. The demoralizing example of profligate power and prosperous crime. Walsh. The vices of the nobility had demoralized the army. Bancroft.…

Worthy of being depended on; trustworthy. "Dependable friendships." Pope.

Worthy of being deplored or lamented; lamentable; causing grief; hence, sad; calamitous; grievous; wretched; as, life's evils are deplorable. Individual sufferers are in a much more deplorable conditious than any others. Burke.

n; to dethrone; to divest or deprive of office. A tyrant over his subjects, and therefore worthy to be deposed. Prynne.

; to divert from a sacred purpose; to violate the sanctity of; to profane; to put to an unworthy use; -- the opposite of consecrate. The [Russian] clergy can not suffer corporal punishment without being previously desecrated. W. Tooke. The founders of monasteries imprecated evil on those who should desecrate their dona…

To earn by service; to be worthy of (something due, either good or evil); to merit; to be entitled to; as, the laborer deserves his wages; a work of value deserves praise. God exacteth of thee less than thine iniquity deserveth. Job xi. 6. John Gay deserved to be a favorite. Thackeray. Encouragement is not held out to…

Meritorious; worthy; as, a deserving or act. -- De*serv"ing*ly, adv.