What's the difference between
and
Enter two words to compare and contrast their definitions, origins, and synonyms to better understand how those words are related.

Cocksure vs Contemptuous - What's the difference?

cocksure | contemptuous |

As adjectives the difference between cocksure and contemptuous

is that cocksure is (informal) too confident; overconfident while contemptuous is showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.

cocksure

English

Adjective

(en adjective)
  • (informal) too confident; overconfident
  • I thought myself cocksure of the horse which he readily promised me. — Alexander Pope.
  • * 1906 , John Galsworthy,
  • The persistence of the Past is one of those tragicomic blessings which each new age denies, coming cocksure on to the stage to mouth its claim to a perfect novelty.
  • *1920 , Sinclair Lewis, The Main Street ,
  • *:These crack specialists, the young scientific fellows, they're so cocksure and so wrapped up in their laboratories that they miss the human element.
  • contemptuous

    English

    Adjective

    (en adjective)
  • Showing contempt; expressing disdain; showing a lack of respect.
  • * {{quote-book, year=1922, author=(Ben Travers)
  • , chapter=5, title= A Cuckoo in the Nest , passage=The most rapid and most seductive transition in all human nature is that which attends the palliation of a ravenous appetite.

    Derived terms

    * contemptuously