detest
Americanverb (used with object)
verb
Synonym Usage
See hate.
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
detestsimple
-
detestssimple
-
have detestedperfect
-
has detestedperfect
-
am detestingprogressive
-
are detestingprogressive
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is detestingprogressive
-
have been detestingperfect progressive
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has been detestingperfect progressive
Past
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detestedsimple
-
had detestedperfect
-
was detestingprogressive
-
were detestingprogressive
-
had been detestingperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of detest
First recorded in 1525–35; from Middle French detester, from Latin dētestārī “to call down a curse upon, loathe,” equivalent to dē- de- + testārī “to bear witness”; see testate
Explanation
If you detest something, you dislike it intensely. The word can apply to things and also to people. You might detest your ex-boyfriend and you might also detest rainy Mondays and broccoli. Detest comes from the Middle French word détester, meaning "to curse, to call God to witness and abhor." Though the words detest and hate are interchangeable, the word hate is much more common, which has caused it to lose some of its hateful impact. Detest is used more sparingly, reserved for cases where no other word will do, where your feelings of dislike are so powerful that they need just the right word to sum them up.
Vocabulary lists containing detest
Tears of a Tiger
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Stargirl
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List 1
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Some tolerate it; some fatalistically accept its coming; others downright detest it and those who use it.
From The Wall Street Journal ● May 26, 2026
People detest her and Prince Harry for stepping back from their royal duties and even more so for going public about what life was like for them.
From Salon ● Mar. 5, 2025
Carey shares that he used to detest wealthy people, before laughing and noting the irony — his career has made him rich.
From Los Angeles Times ● Feb. 26, 2025
Not only do the Fremen detest colonizers mining their planet for spice and often attack them, the mining operation is also a dangerous activity in and of itself.
From Seattle Times ● Feb. 27, 2024
The Fundamentalists required no new reason to detest robots and robot manufacturers; but a new reason such as the Quinn accusation and the Calvin analysis was sufficient to make such detestation audible.
From "I, Robot" by Isaac Asimov
Reilly said he loves being able to offer affordable food, as he "detests" waste of any kind.
From BBC ● May 27, 2026
Beijing detests Lai, whom it believes is a separatist.
From Reuters ● Oct. 23, 2023
This, in a sport that absolutely detests nuance.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 9, 2023
Instead, Boebert detests being associated with Greene, according to reports.
From Salon ● Jan. 17, 2023
Gauguin detests “messing about in the medium,” he tells Bernard.
From "Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers" by Deborah Heiligman
She detested the East Coast avatars of apocalypse, like Nathanael West, who saw only doom and gloom in sunny L.A.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026
A boisterous protest greeted fans arriving at SoFi stadium in Los Angeles, with demonstrators waving the pre-revolutionary flag detested by the leaders of the Islamic republic.
From Barron's ● Jun. 16, 2026
Hockney detested the "cultural bossiness of New Labour" and joined the Countryside March in protest.
From BBC ● Jun. 12, 2026
Alberto Fujimori was a political outsider who won power in 1990 by sweeping up support among Peru’s poor masses who detested the establishment.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 12, 2026
My reason is to be found in what took place in Mr. Pumblechook’s parlour: where, on our presenting ourselves, my sister sat in conference with that detested seedsman.
From "Great Expectations" by Charles Dickens
There’s messaging about neighbors with different political views co-existing amicably – or, if not that, detesting each other for reasons other than politics.
From Salon ● Feb. 6, 2025
“I’ve always had this sort of magical-thinking way of detesting my previous books as a way of pushing myself forward,” she told the Washington Square Review in 2015.
From Seattle Times ● Oct. 13, 2023
Also detesting the invasion is Maria Yumasheva, the 19-year-old daughter of Russian real estate developer Valentin Yumashev and his wife Tatyana Borisovna.
From Fox News ● Mar. 5, 2022
A reader called me out on it, saying that there’s a difference between disagreeing with a position and detesting a person.
From New York Times ● Jun. 17, 2021
As to her taste for metaphysical books——Dear mother, I am very daring to differ with you in so many points; but permit me to say, that I do not agree with you in detesting metaphysics.
From Leonora by Edgeworth, Maria
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
