The Hebrew word buz means to despise, hold in contempt, or treat as worthless. As a noun it means contempt or scorn. It describes the attitude of treating something or someone as negligible, unworthy of respect, or beneath consideration.
Contempt is one of the most spiritually dangerous sins in the Old Testament. Wisdom literature repeatedly warns against despising: the poor (Proverbs 14:21), parents (Proverbs 15:20), God's correction (Proverbs 3:11), and God's word (Numbers 15:31). The Psalms open with a contrast between those who take delight in God's law and the scornful (luts), but buz captures active dismissal. Esau 'despised his birthright' (Genesis 25:34) — the paradigm of trading the eternal for the temporary. Jesus warned that no one can serve two masters; to choose one is functionally to despise the other (Matthew 6:24).