abhorrence

[ab-hawr-uhns, -hor-]

noun

1. a feeling of extreme repugnance or aversion; utter loathing; abomination.

   Synonyms: detestation, execration

2. something or someone extremely repugnant or loathsome.

abhorrence

/ əbˈhɒrəns /

noun

1. a feeling of extreme loathing or aversion

2. a person or thing that is loathsome

Other Word Forms

• self-abhorrence noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of abhorrence¹

First recorded in 1650–60; abhorr(ent) + -ence

Example Sentences

In general, we can say that police harbor a kind of natural abhorrence of protest because it's disorderly and policing is about the production of social order.

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The consultation which led to its introduction was supported, for example, by the Scottish Council of Jewish Communities which said that it enabled "society to signal its abhorrence of prejudice and hatred against identifiable groups."

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“They wanted to murder Jews. In its repugnant brutality and abhorrence, however, the terror is also directed against humanity itself.”

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The vote confounded critics of O'Connor, who had previously expressed her personal abhorrence of abortion.

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“Washington’s signature verification requirement is a guilty-until-proven-innocent regime, an abhorrence to our constitutional system in general and intolerable when it strips eligible voters of their right to vote,” he wrote.

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