History is replete with examples of strategic miscalculations in which an over-reach - usually born of contemptuous disdain for a foe - led to disaster for the aggressor.

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And they adopt a posture of contemptuous moral superiority over those who disagree.

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When using complaint as a tool to keep the social conversation going and foster a fond, if sometimes contemptuous, loyalty to the organisation, nobody, from the lowliest employees upwards, expects anything to come of it.

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His mien is that of the contemptuous guerrilla fighter, mixed with that of a truculent teenager.

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Filmmaker Jonathan Nossiter depicted Rolland as a self-important popinjay, contemptuous of any palate other than his own.

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He responded by drawing his finger across his throat in a gesture that seemed dismissive and contemptuous rather than threatening before more mundanely asking the judge for bathroom break.

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"I know a lot of tutors who are almost contemptuous of the families, " he added.

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For a museum of design, MAD seems oddly contemptuous of the design elements that went into these commercial products.

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This is a lousy time to have a president in the White House who is, apparently, contemptuous of Winston Churchill.

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But to come up with a few declarations or protocols and ask the Irish to vote again would not just be contemptuous of democracy: the turnout and margin of defeat also suggest that it might fail.

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