Misprising

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. Regarding someone or something with undervaluation ; feeling or showing disdain or contempt ; failing to appreciate worth appropriately
2. Viewing with insufficient respect ; harboring a sense of scorn or disregard ; not properly acknowledging value or merit
3. Holding in low esteem ; expressing or feeling contemptuous disregard ; underestimating what is due or deserving

Etymology: "Misprise" is an English verb meaning to despise or to undervalue, and it comes from Old French "mesprisier," formed from "mes-" (meaning wrongly or amiss) and "prisier" (to prize or value). The sense of the root is literally "to value badly," which is why the modern meaning leans toward holding something in low regard. The verb is closely related to "praise" and "prize," both of which descend from the same Latin root "pretium," meaning price or worth. Shakespeare used the word in its full strength, and it was later used in the sense of misunderstanding or mistaking something, a shift that shows how "valuing wrongly" can turn into "taking wrongly." The form "misprising" is simply the -ing form of the verb, used both as a participle and as a gerund, so it carries the same sense of holding something in low esteem.

Synonyms: disparaging, belittling, underestimating, disrespecting, deriding

Antonyms: praising, valuing, appreciating, respecting, honoring