Meaning

Primary

To Scorn

Alternative

To Despise

Word Type

transitive verb, godan verb

Explanation

This word consists of kanji with hiragana attached. Because the hiragana ends with an sound, you know this word is a verb. The kanji itself means scorn, so the verb version is to scorn and to despise.

Reading

さげすむ
  • Kyoko
    (Tokyo accent, female)
  • Kenichi
    (Tokyo accent, male)

Explanation

Since this word consists of a kanji with hiragana attached, you can bet that it will use the kun'yomi reading. You didn't learn that reading with this kanji, so here's a mnemonic to help you:

You start to scorn your boss because she's been wearing that same sage suit (さげす) for a month now. She knows you want to wear a sage suit too but you can't wear the same color as her! It's really making you start to despise her. Uhg!

Context

Context Sentences

あの男は、無意識に人のことを蔑んでいるのよ。

That man unconsciously looks down on people.

Kanji Composition