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  1. What's the meaning of the phrase 'Familiarity breeds contempt'? The proverbial saying ‘familiarity breeds contempt’ express the idea that a close long-term relationship with a person or situation brings about feelings of boredom or lack of respect.

  2. Oct 24, 2010 · Ordinarily, the expression "familiarity breeds contempt" refers to what often happens in long-standing relationships and marriages. Regrettably, over time too may relationships begin to see...

  3. familiarity breeds contempt. idiom saying. Add to word list. Add to word list. used to say that if you know someone very well you stop respecting them because you have seen all of their bad qualities. SMART Vocabulary: related words and phrases. Feelings of dislike and hatred. abhorrence. abomination.

  4. If you say that familiarity breeds contempt, you mean that if you know someone or something very well, you can easily become bored with them and stop treating them with respect. Of course, it's often true that familiarity breeds contempt, that we're attracted to those who seem so different from those we know at home.

    • Familiarity Breeds Contempt Meaning
    • Origin of Familiarity Breeds Contempt
    • Examples of Familiarity Breeds Contempt
    • More Examples
    • Summary

    Definition:The longer one knows someone, the more likely that he or she will discover negative things about the other person. This can also apply to things. If a person does something for a long time, he or she might grow to dislike or hate it.

    The idea behind this expression has been around for thousands of years. In ancient Rome, the writer Publilius used the expression. Over a thousand years later, Pope Innocent III repeated the expression. The English writer Geoffrey Chaucer was the first to use this expression. It appeared in his work Tale of Melibee, in the 1300s.

    Two friends are talking about their unique friendship. Kira: Recently, I’ve been thinking about how long we’ve been friends. I think you’re my oldest friend! Dan: Wow, really? Kira: Yeah. Usually I like people a lot at first, but the longer I know them, the more I discover bad aspects of their personality. Dan: Yeah, that makes sense. I guess that’...

    This excerpt is about a sports rivalry. 1. Familiarity breeds contempt, and the Jets and Patriots — who have battled one another since 1960— are no exception. –New York Daily News This excerpt is about the public perception of politicians. 1. If familiarity breeds contempt, especially among one’s critics, remember that Clinton has been a national f...

    The phrase familiarity breeds contemptis another way to say that as time goes on, people have more time to learn things they dislike about other people or things.

  5. 2 days ago · Quick Reference. We value least the things which are most familiar. The saying is recorded in English from the late 14th century, but the idea is found in the 5th century ad in the Latin of St Augustine, ‘ vulgare proverbium est, quod nimia familiaritas parid contemptum [it is a common proverb, that too much familiarity breeds contempt ...

  6. Long experience of someone or something can make one so aware of the faults as to be scornful. For example, Ten years at the same job and now he hates itfamiliarity breeds contempt . The idea is much older, but the first recorded use of this expression was in Chaucer's Tale of Melibee (c. 1386).

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